Do it right to escape a mandatory code

Pub industry bosses are no doubt grateful for the recent summer sun, which has resulted in teeming beer gardens, despite the recession.

If they feel secure enough to take a holiday themselves in July and August, they are likely to want to keep in touch, even while on the beach, with developments on two crucial issues.

The former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson was famous in the 1960s and 1970s for solving disputes over "beer and sandwiches", and the current mediation talks regarding the tie, being chaired by the leading licensing lawyer Jeremy Phillips, are very much in that tradition (although I understand the participants so far have had to make do with coffee and biscuits).

Who could have predicted six months ago that Punch Taverns and pubco representatives would sit down in the same room as Fair Pint?

The family brewers have, perhaps understandably, been the most cautious about coming to the table — quite rightly they do not see themselves as being the main focus of attention when it comes to problems caused by the tie.

Nevertheless, it is crucial that they are involved, to ensure that their own interests and those of their tenants are safeguarded.

Some commentators say agreement is impossible by the October deadline, pointing out mediation is a much woollier process than arbitration, which generally requires a greater commitment from the parties involved to accept the result.

However, hope lies in the fact that having entered the room, none of the parties can afford to be isolated at the end and be blamed for the breakdown of the talks.

Secondly, in August, possibly MI6-like while in their Speedos by the beach, industry bosses will be signing off their final responses to the consultation on the pub industry code of practice.

This is an appendage to the Policing and Crime Bill currently making very slow progress in the House of Lords. With the Liberals now opposed to the mandatory alcohol retailing code of practice, the Conservatives hold the key as to whether it will be passed into law.

Parliament returns in October and the Government is likely to want an early Queen's speech, to allow as much time as possible for the final session before the general election.

Given the lack of time for this Bill, if the industry plays its cards right it could well escape the burdens of a mandatory code, perhaps in exchange for licensing conditions concerning irresponsible promotions.