Retroactive powers for pubs code adjudicator

The new pubs code adjudicator will have the power to examine potential breaches by pubcos of the statutory code going back as far as March last year, the Government has confirmed.

Speaking during a debate in the House of Commons last week, small business minister Anna Soubry said that a new clause in the legislation “makes clear that business practices occurring after the Act was passed in March 2015 can be reported on” by the new pubs watchdog.

Soubry also added that tenants will be able to take the market-rent only (MRO) option at rent assessment regardless of the proposed rent level. The Government had previously proposed that MRO was only valid if the rent was to increase. “It is now beyond doubt that the market-rent only option will be available at a rent assessment irrespective of the level at which the rent is
set,” Soubry confirmed.

Elsewhere in the debate, shadow small business minister and MP for Sefton Central Bill Esterson said the pubs code had not been ‘the Government’s finest hour’ and added that the effectiveness of the new system remained to be seen.

“We are now in a position where a pub tenant will have automatic access to a market rent-only option on rent renewal,” he said. “This is what was needed, but the way we got there is a cause for concern in itself.

“How to ensure fair rents, the balance between the commercial needs of pub companies and their tenants and the opportunity to get out of unfair ties are serious matters. The operation of the pub code, the adjudicator, market rent only and parallel rent assessments will affect the livelihoods of thousands of publicans.”

All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group chair Andrew Griffiths warned earlier this year that the adjudicator could be ‘swamped’ with complaints once he or she takes office, adding that steps needed to be taken to prevent the sector becoming bogged down in red tape.

As the Publican’s Morning Advertiser​​ went to press, the trade was still waiting for an announcement on the identity of the new adjudicator.