JfL’s Inez Ward said licensees “want answers” following the Government’s decision not to introduce a Statutory Code of Practice for the pub industry and to support a self-regulation deal with the British Beer & Pub Association.
During a meeting of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee Business minister Ed Davey faced over two hours of scrutiny on the deal and admitted the tied model “did not appear to be working.”
In the letter addressed to David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Ed Davey, Ward writes: “We have noted that Ed Davey has admitted in public that the tied model does not appear to be working, we would be grateful for an explanation of why this government appears to feel that it is justified in protecting a model that does not appear to work at the expense and to the detriment of the pubs of this land, the people that run them and the people that use them.”
She added: “All we can hope is that they (Government) see sense. The proposal they have come up with doesn’t show sense and hasn’t addressed the key issues in the slightest.
“It is no different to when the frameworks came in back in 2010 - nothing has changed - and while this carries on, the livelihoods of licensees are still being destroyed.”
A House of Commons debate on the pubco-tenant relationship is to take place next Thursday (12 January),
The full letter is available below.
Related Forum comments