BBPA urges government re-think on mandatory code
The British Beer & Pub Association has today written to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith urging her to reconsider the "scope and scale" of a mandatory code of practice, claiming its impact would close more pubs.
In the letter, chief executive Rob Hayward argues the prospect of the code costing the trade more than £300m - which includes a £178m fall in yearly turnover - in its first year is causing "considerable anxiety".
"This cost, associated as it is with the mandatory elements of the proposed code, will not discriminate between the responsible and the irresponsible," he says.
"The inevitable consequence of such a measure, as acknowledged by the government, will be to push more pubs out of business and more people out of work."
The government's own assessment of the code's impact said there was the "potential for significant transitional costs, including job losses and the closures of small businesses".
Hayward says that this admission that job losses and closures were a price worth paying for a mandatory code would be viewed with "open disbelief".
The letter also attacks the government-commissioned KPMG report into standards around alcohol retailing.
Hayward admits that "all-you-can-drink" and free drinks for women" promotions are "unacceptable".
However he adds: we are unable to find any reference to such specific promotions in the KPMG study, to which we believe you are referring. Indeed, the data in the KPMG report relating to promotions shows the incidence of what the report defines as irresponsible promotions generally among the sample (414 high street locations) to be extremely low - amounting to only about two per cent of premises.
"This data raises questions as to whether such evidence is sufficient to support proposals for mandatory regulatory intervention."
The letter concludes: "I very much hope that you will find the opportunity to reconsider the scope and scale of these proposals and would welcome being able to discuss these issues further with you"
