Proposals to help struggling pubs get a fair deal
Pubs struggling to pay rent or beer prices could save thousands of pounds a year each, thanks to a new Code of Practice and the backing of a powerful Adjudicator, under proposals announced today by Employment Relations and Consumer Minister Jo Swinson.
Ministers want to make sure that pub tenants are treated fairly by pub companies and hope that the new proposals will save tenants £100 million per year. The Code would contain mandatory rules for all pub companies who own a certain number of pubs. In particular it would stop pub companies abusing the beer tie, which obliges tenants to sell certain types of beers often at high prices.
Under the proposals a new Adjudicator would have the power to:
· enforce the Code
· investigate any breaches, and
· deal with disputes through possible sanctions and fines
The proposals are contained in a consultation published today. The Code will apply to those pubs which own over 500 pubs, to focus on the part of the industry where almost 90 per cent of complaints are received. The consultation seeks views on whether this is a fair threshold.