Draft Pubs Code

EDM number 758 in 2015-16, proposed by Greg Mulholland on 24/11/2015.
Categorised under the topics of Leisure, Service industries and Small businesses.

That this House notes the consultation on the draft Pubs Code launched on 29 October 2015, due to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act requiring the code to be in place by June 2016; expresses dismay that the market rent only option in the code is not the one voted for by the House on 18 November 2014 and does not constitute a meaningful market rent only option at all, which is giving tied tenants of the large pub companies the right to choose, in specific circumstances, stated in the legislation, to request and opt to pay an independently assessed market rent without forced purchasing obligations; expresses disbelief that the code seeks to negate this right through the inclusion of paragraph 8.12; notes the reference to wholesale pricing as a benchmark, when in reality this is pubco tied pricing, so must be removed; notes the phrase MRO offer from a pubco, which may not be genuine market rent and undermines the legal definition, so must be removed; notes that removal of parallel rent assessments, which must be reinserted; believes that the code undermines the legislation and the will of Parliament and is compatible with the Act and therefore legally challengeable; notes the commitments of Ministers to introduce the MRO option, found in the Act; and calls on the Department to rewrite the code in line with the Act and to maintain its commitment to introducing the MRO option as envisaged by the Fair Deal for Your Local campaign and voted for by Parliament.

This motion has been signed by a total of 12 MPs.