MPs lobby Minister to back CAMRA and Pubs Group call to save pubs

3 years ago

A group of MPs led by Tracy Brabin MP (Member for Batley and Spen), and the Labour Party candidate for West Yorkshire Mayor, has written to Small Business Minister, Paul Scully MP, in support of a campaign launched on 22 March being driven by the Forum of British Pubs (FBP), with the support of CAMRA, to ‘Reform Regulation 7’ of the Pubs Code.

Regulation 7 of the Pubs Code, aimed at protecting pub tied tenants, covers situations where there has been an unforeseen fundamental change in the trade of a pub enabling the tenant to have it’s rent reassessed to help it to remain viable. Ordinarily rents are reviewed every five years, but the Regulation states that when an ‘Event Trigger’ has occurred, the tenant can accelerate the review.

However, the Code defines an ‘Event Trigger’ as one which ‘must be unlikely to impact all pubs in England and Wales’, and as such the large pub owning groups are able to claim that ‘Covid’ should not be regarded as a trigger, and ignore requests for early rent assessments.

The Campaign being driven by the FPB and CAMRA calls on the Minister and Pub Code Adjudicator to support an amendment to the Code such that Regulation 7 can be invoked by an event that does indeed have the capacity to affect all pubs, such as the current pandemic.

Founder of the Forum of British Pubs, Dave Mountford, commented, ‘It is clearly in the country’s interest for pubs currently impacted so badly by the Covid crisis that they may well not open again, to have the opportunity of a rent reassessment right now. But the conditions set out in Regulation 7 of the 2016 Pubs Code give the PubCo’s the ability to reject this. In conjunction with CAMRA we are seeking an immediate amendment to the Regulation so that Covid is regarded as a ‘Trigger Event’ which could well save many of the 10,500 tied tenant pubs in our communities.’

MPs who have added their support to the campaign include:

Tracy Brabin MP

Paula Barker MP

Darren Jones MP

Ian Byrne MP

Clive Lewis MP

Sarah Champion MP

Emma Lewell-Buck MP

Yvette Cooper MP

Tony Lloyd MP

Clive Efford MP

Grahame Morris MP

Yvonne Fovargue MP

Kate Osborne MP

Andrew Gwynne MP

Taiwo Owatemi MP

Emma Hardy MP

Virendra Sharma MP

George Howarth MP

Mick Whitley MP

Dan Jarvis MP

Rosie Winterton MP

Kim Johnson MP

Mohammad Yasin MP

Mark Tami MP

Rachel Hopkins MP

-End-

Notes to Editors

Image of Tracy Brabin MP attached
A full transcript of the letter sent to Paul Scully MP is as follows:

Paul Scully MP
Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0ET
22 March 2021
Dear Minister,

We write regarding regulation 7 of The Pubs Code 2016, under which a tied establishment might seek a rent review should an unforeseen event occur that reduces its level of trade over a continuous period of 12 months.

The British pub is one of our oldest and most cherished institutions; yet for years it has been in peril. 25% have closed since 2001, reaching a rate of 18 a week in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic has made this situation even worse, with pubs losing months of trading during the lockdown periods.

Whilst we welcome the financial support provided to pubs over the past year, many pubs in our constituencies have contacted us, concerned that they will still not be able to reopen when restrictions are finally lifted.

Over a year of repeated lockdowns, the business of running a pub has become unprofitable, yet the rental agreements held by the large pub-owning businesses have not changed to reflect this fact, and routine rent reviews are held only every fifth year of the contract. Regulation 7 of The Pubs Code 2016 should have addressed this problem, as it enables a tied tenant to request a rent assessment should an unforeseen “trigger event” occur, which decreases the level of trade continuously for a period of 12 months.

However, whilst Regulation 7 should have allowed every tied pub in England and Wales to have its rent reassessed due to the impact on trade of the pandemic and lockdowns, it is impossible to invoke due to the caveat that the “trigger event” must be “unlikely to impact all pubs in England and Wales”. Clearly, the current crisis does.

Therefore, what should have been the lifeline for 10,500 tied pubs across the country is no more than a bad insurance policy, one which never pays out no matter how deserving the claim. By simply removing this one line, tied pub tenants could pay rent proportionate to their current turnover, and would stand a fighting chance of achieving profitability during the incredibly difficult months ahead.

Without this one simple amendment, we fear that thousands of pubs will never be able to repay the extortionate rent unfairly accrued during COVID-19. Estimates from last year suggest that a quarter of UK pubs may not survive this pandemic, and for the ones that do, the Treasury and taxpayer will pay the cost for keeping them afloat, as Government grants have to cover these disproportionate rent bills.

Today, the Forum of British Pubs – with support from CAMRA – has launched a new campaign called Reform Regulation 7 to coincide with the current review of The Pubs Code 2016. We would be most grateful if you would follow this campaign, listen to the concerns of pub tenants across the country, and come back to us with your comments on this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Tracy Brabin MP
Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen


Contacts:
Forum of British Pubs: Dave Mountford davemountford@sky.com
Tracy Brabin's office: paul.marsden@parliament.uk

Attached Media

Press Contacts

Ian Cass

Managing Director

01565626056

info@forumofbritishpubs.com