The Pubs Code came into force in 2016 to govern the relationship between tenants and pub companies. It followed a decade of campaigning from tenants, CAMRA and other industry groups who felt that tenants of the big pub companies were at a significant disadvantage when dealing with those companies with the result that their livelihoods were being affected by rent and price increases over which they had no say. Since coming into force, CAMRA has heard a number of complaints about the effectiveness of the Code. As a result of lobbying by CAMRA and others the Government has decided to carry out a review of the Pubs Code. The public consultation (which you can find here) closes on the 22nd July and CAMRA would urge all affected Licensees to respond to the consultation.
In addition, CAMRA is surveying tenants tied to large pub owning companies to determine whether the Pubs Code is working for them. In order to ensure the views of affected tenants are heard, we have launched the survey to coincide with the Government’s review of the Code. While targeted at tied tenants, anyone with an interest in the Code can anonymously provide comments as part of the survey, which closes on 17th July.
Nik Antona, CAMRA National Chairman said: “The Pubs Code Adjudicator has told us a number of times that his office struggles to contact tenants directly and relies on pub companies to act as a conduit. This is clearly not an effective way to get the honest views of tenants, which is why we are going straight to the source to find out if the Code is really working as intended.
“We’ll be submitting the survey results to the Government. I expect the results will show what we have suspected for a long time now – that the Pubs Code needs some serious reform to make it fit for purpose and deliver for tenants.”