Consultation On Statutory Code Of Practice For Pub Companies

EDM number 1299 in 2012-13, proposed by Greg Mulholland on 22/04/2013.
Categorised under the topics of Companies, Regulation and Service industries.

That this House welcomes the launch of the consultation to determine what will be in the forthcoming statutory code of practice for large pub companies; notes that the code has become necessary as large companies continue to take more than is fair or sustainable from pub profits in both inflated product prices and excessive rents which is causing the failure of pub businesses up and down the country; further notes that self-regulation failed and did nothing to address the overcharging; welcomes the explicit commitment to enshrine in law that tied licensees should be no worse off than free-of-tie licensees; believes that the way to deliver this is an option for tied landlords of large companies to pay an independently assessed market rent only to their pub owning company and that this should be offered alongside tied agreements; further notes that this is the solution put forward by the Business Select Committee, chaired by the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire; further notes that this is not abolishing the tie, but making the tie work as it should, which is that if a licensee pays higher product prices they then pay a correspondingly lower than market rent which is currently not the case; further notes that this is supported by small business organisations, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Forum of Private Business as well as the Campaign for Real Ale and licensees' organisation; and supports the commitment to protect the family brewers by applying the code only to companies that own more than 500 pubs.

This motion has been signed by a total of 23 MPs.