Luff to meet Government over pubcos

The Government's response to the summer's damning report by MPs into pubcos is expected to be discussed tomorrow between Consumer Affairs Minister Kevin Brennan and the MP who headed the inquiry.

Peter Luff MP, chairman of the Business and Enterprise Committee (BEC), gave the Government's business department until after the publication of a new report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to respond to the committee's findings.

The OFT's report, released last week, said no further action would be taken and the tie does not raise competition concerns.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which is headed by Lord Mandelson, told the Morning Advertiser​: "We are waiting for a call now [to respond to BEC] from Peter Luff, which we think is going to come tomorrow at a meeting with Consumer Affairs Minister Kevin Brennan."

Luff said: "I think the main subject [of the meeting] will be when the Government will respond to the [BEC] report. We will wait and see what the Government says."

The BEC report urged a Competition Commission inquiry into pubcos.

Luff said he "stands by the report" but was "encouraged" by the actions of pubcos since the report was released in May. "The question is, how encouraged should we be?"

Last week, Luff said he would reconvene the BEC to hear an update from the OFT, the newly formed Independent Pub Confederation, the British Beer and Pub Association and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.