Mulholland, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Save the Pub Group, raised the issue with business minister Ed Davey during questions from the floor at the House of Commons today.
The appointment has received wide-ranging criticism in the industry, as it is perceived that Vickers is Punch Tavern’s surveyor. However he has acted on behalf of both licensees and pubcos in rent-review disputes, and has been a practice consultant at property agent Brownill Vickers since 1964.
PICAS, which is expected to be up and running at the end of February, is part of the self-regulation deal between the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and the Government in the wake of the BISC report.
PICAS will initially operate under PIRRS, which will retain responsibility for arbitrating rent-review disputes.
Mulholland said: “The appointment of a Punch Taverns surveyor as chairman of the board of PICAS is a complete farce and once again shows that the pubco’s representative organisation, the BBPA, is pulling all the strings.
“This appointment confirms tied licensees worst fears, that the BBPA-drafted Government proposals will do nothing to change the fundamental imbalance that exists in the sector and BIS have not only failed in their duty to address a serious problem but have failed licensees up and down the country.
“Mr Vickers has shown himself in both rent review cases and in court to not agree with the fundamental principle, in relation to rent reviews, that a tenant should be no worse off financially than if they were free-of-tie. So how can he possibly be regarded as suitable for this job? Even considering the way that BIS have handled this matter so far, this really does take the biscuit.”
He urged leadership from the Government, asked ministers to come up with a solution that will stop pubcos taking “more than is reasonable” from pubs.
A BIS spokeman said: “The appointment of the chair was approved unanimously by the PIRRS Board, two out of five of which are members of the IPC. The PIRRS board would not have appointed the chair if they did not have complete confidence in their ability to act properly and impartially.
“The PIRRS board will also be appointing a vice-chair. Minister Edward Davey has written to the board, emphasising the importance of this individual having a strong standing and reputation amongst licensee groups, in order to ensure the chair and vice-chair are seen to represent all sides of the industry – both the pubcos and the licensees.”
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