Scottish Pubs Bill 2021
BREAKING NEWS: Earlier this month, the UK Supreme Court refused permission to hear two pub-owning businesses’ appeal on the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021.
The UK Supreme Court’s decision means the Scottish Government can now proceed and implement the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021. The court order preventing implementation has also been lifted.
Timetable for implementation
The Scottish Government remains committed to implementing the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021 as soon as possible.
The key elements to implement the Act are to appoint the Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator and to lay the Scottish Pubs Code before the Scottish Parliament.
The indicative timetable is as follows:
• We are aiming to lay the first piece of secondary legislation on 19 April. This will allow the Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator to be established.
• Before Scottish Ministers can appoint the Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator, the Scottish Parliament must first approve their appointment. Subject to Parliament’s approval we are aiming to appoint the Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator in May.
• We are aiming on laying the remaining secondary legislation, including the Scottish Pubs Code, before Parliament in the first week of May, which would enable Parliament to consider the secondary legislation before summer recess. If approved, the code would come into force on 7 October 2024, giving time for both tenants and businesses to prepare and engage with the Scottish Pub Code Adjudicator for guidance.
• These dates are subject to approval and parliamentary business, they may be subject to change.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/17/contents/enacted
VICTORY TIED PUBS BILL PASSED
The bill passed stage 3 and will now become law with 111 votes to nil – watch the debate below. When the Scottish Election is over the new Government will begin working with stakeholders to construct the code details. Scottish tenants wishing to learn more should contact us HERE
Update on the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill – MARCH 2021
An unprecedented number of proposed amendments to the bill were tabled in Feb – these were designed to derail the bill – the good news is that they have now been dropped by the MSP’s after they realised they would be voted down by the SNP Government using its majority. Back in Nov the Business Minister Jamie Hepburn backed the bill in Stage 1. There were so many amendments (over 300) it had doubled the length of the bill. Given the threat to wreck the bill has faded away it seems there can be swift progress to stage 3. The Pubs Code bill is expected to clear the house before the Scottish elections in May. Scottish tied tenant interested in becoming Free of Tie to drop us a line here
Update on the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill – NOV 2020
The fantastic news is the Bill has passed Stage 1 by a unanimous vote 107 – 0 and is on its way to becoming law.
Progress on the bill can be found here https://beta.parliament.scot/bills/tied-pubs-scotland-bill
…………………………………………………………
Update on the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill – SEPT 2020
Update on the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill – AUG 2020
Tied Pubs in Scotland at risk of being left behind.
The pub sector in Scotland is first class, but it is at risk of being treated as second class by its own Government. Tied pubs in England & Wales will soon be able to demand the new market rent only option [MRO] if they find they are “worse off” as a result of being tied for their wet products, but not Scotland. In an effort to keep as many pubs as possible tied (and away from MRO), the pub owing companies will be concentrating investment in the English & Welsh pubs and increasing the discounts and countervailing benefits on offer. Scotland will shoulder the cost of cross subsidising the move to keep as many of the English & Welsh pubs as tied as possible.
Due to unspecified ‘technical problems’ the Scottish Government’s Business Department (headed by Fergus Ewing MSP) did not carry over the tied pub legislation to apply throughout the UK as they did with the Groceries Code Adjudicator. Holyrood is currently not convinced there is anything wrong in the Scottish tied pub sector. It also fails to recognise the risk tied Scottish pubs face as thousands of English & Welsh tied pubs switch to a free of tie deals under MRO. Because of the inherent unfairness pressure was brought by a large cross party group of MSPs headed up by Paul Martin MSP who held a debate in May and forced Mr Ewing to agree to a separate Scottish Pubs Consultation.
Will history repeat itself?
Back in 2013 the Business Department in Westminster under then-Secretary of State Vince Cable undertook one of the largest consultation responses ever seen; overwhelmingly tied tenants across the UK backed a MRO option. The submissions and results can be seen here. Fergus Ewing has responded to all of this evidence by dismissing it on the grounds that not enough Scottish tied pubs got involved and in his words the tied trade in Scotland is “different” – clearly he thinks tied publicans in Scotland are happy and doing well.
Scottish tied pubs to be examined.
Source: http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Minister-announces-study-on-pub-tenancies-190d.aspx
The Scottish Government will commission research in 2015-16 to help determine if those working in the tied ‘wet pub sector’ are unfairly disadvantaged compared to other pub tenanted models. “For the last two years the Scottish Government has sought evidence that demonstrates that the ‘tied wet’ sector is much worse off than other forms of contractual arrangements. During this time we have met with representatives from across the industry. “This is a complex issue, which needs to be carefully examined to determine whether there is robust evidence to any support change. Evidence provided so far has failed to look at the comparative benefits and any negative impact of the ‘tied’ contract as a package.
“For this reason the Scottish Government will commission a study to look at the various pub models operating in Scotland to see whether the tied sector are being treated more unfairly than other parts of the industry. If this study is to be successful, it will require the co-operation of the whole pub Sector, from tenants to Pubcos.
“Before Scottish Ministers can commit to the legislative route it is important to carry out this research – which will help us come to a view. We will then be in a better position to consider whether legislation should be introduced and who it should apply to – which may be different to that identified in England and Wales where the make-up of the sector is very different to Scotland.”
Furthermore the Scottish business department are stating [incorrectly!] that no-one has ever complained about their tied pub deal:
Position in Scotland as outlined by Fergus Ewing
2.11 Until BIS indicated they were minded to introduce legislation, no representations had been made to Scottish Ministers by anyone operating in the sector in Scotland. To date,nopubs in Scotland have ever availed themselves of the dispute resolutions in place through established industry schemes (such as the Pubs Independent Rent Review Scheme (PIRRS) and Pubs Independent Conciliation and Arbitration Service (PICA)), hence, the Scottish Governmentwas unaware of any problemin the Scottish tenanted sector.
How did we respond on behalf of Scottish tied tenants?
We have asked the Business Minster why is it that the Groceries Code Adjudicator and Groceries Supply Code covers all Scottish supermarket suppliers despite not a single complaint to the supermarkets self regulatory service being made either? It seems as if a precedent has made by the business department singling out tied pubs as very “different” types of businesses indeed.
Scottish suppliers to the supermarkets are for the most part micro- or small businesses and employ less staff than some of the tied pubs who are seeking a similar level of statutory protection. We believe that Scottish tied pubs are being treated unfairly as second class businesses. How is it that no complaints to the supermarket self regulatory service and no complaints to the pubs self regulatory service results in two very “different” outcomes?
I rent a tied pub so what can i do about this?
You can contact the PAS who are members of a broad coalition of Scottish based businesses fighting for equal treatment for Scottish tied pubs. We operate confidentially and independently of your landlords, anything you tell us will remain confidential. We have many experts on call to help get the “job done” for Scottish tied pubs but we can’t get anything done without your help so….contact the PAS and register your interest to take part in the Scottish Pub Consultation by using the button below