Ministers to research tied pubs ahead of legislation decision

Research is to be commissioned by the Scottish Government to help determine whether those working in the tied "wet pub sector" are unfairly disadvantaged compared to other pub tenanted models, Business Minister Fergus Ewing has announced in Holyrood.

A tied wet pub is a public house that is contractually required to buy at least some of its beer from a particular brewery or pub company. Ministers are considering whether to legislate for Scotland on the lines of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, which provides for a market rent only option for the "Pub Co" (large pub companies) tied sector in England & Wales, and have until May 2016 to deliver the secondary legislation to implement the measures.

There has been a call for the same legislation to be introduced to Scotland, which would impact on around 500 tied tenants attached to the Pub Co model, or around 10% of the pubs in Scotland.

The Scottish Government's position is that the makeup of the pub sector is very different in Scotland to that in England & Wales, and research is needed to identify the extent of any problem.

Following the debate Mr Ewing said: “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 Pub Co’s.

“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 & Wales where the makeup of the sector is very different to Scotland.”