GMB to meet with Vince Cable's officials over self-regulation deal

The PMA reported last week that Cable had written to all the organisations involved in the deal asking them to provide full details on how the process is progressing.

This came after he had dismissed claims that the Government had washed it hands of the issue, following consumer relations minister Jo Swinson’s refusal to be interviewed by the Publican’s Morning Advertiser about it - she claimed at the time that all the commitments “have now been achieved”.

The deadline for written evidence from all parties involved in the deal is this Friday (23 November) and GMB branch secretary Dave Mountford will meet with Cable’s officials to find out how committed the business secretary is to making self-regulation work, as well as to discuss the “wider economic dispute” in the pub sector.

Last week GMB announced that it had set up a mobile app that will make it easy for tied tenants to provide confidential information regarding their own experience of with their pubco and whether they have seen any improvements due the self-regulation introduced last year.

Mountford said: “Britain’s pubs are a community asset as well as commercial businesses. The half that are owned by the property companies are saddled with debts payable to bondholders in offshore tax havens and are struggling. GMB will fight to get pubs separated from the debts as that is what they need to thrive.”

He added: “GMB do not consider self-regulation to be the answer but we will go over the ground that BIS want to look at and discuss how to keep the dialogue moving for the benefit of tied tenants. If there is to be self-regulation it has to be real and not a sham.

“We need to be convinced that Vince Cable wants to make it work and is not going through the motions. We have to see a rebalancing of “risk” and “reward” between tied tenants and the property companies”.