Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 March 2021
Under the bill as introduced, the code required pub-owning businesses to offer a market-rent-only lease to a tenant who requested such a lease—there were no exceptions. As the minister has said, as a result of the amendments that he moved at stage 2 it is now possible for the code to specify the circumstances in which a market-rent-only offer need not be made by a pub-owning business.
Amendment 13 would go further by making it a requirement, rather than a possibility, that the code sets out circumstances in which an MRO offer need not be made. It also includes the example that an agreed investment may be a reason for an MRO offer not to be made. The investment example is also the subject of the minister’s amendment 9, which I will come to in a moment.
I remain satisfied that the minister’s amendments at stage 2 strike the right balance, so I will not support Graham Simpson’s amendments in the group. I therefore ask members not to support amendments 13 and 8. Amendment 12 is a consequential amendment, which will not be required if amendment 13 is not agreed to, so I will not support amendment 12 either.
As I have explained, the minister’s stage 2 amendment means that paragraph 5(3)(aa) of schedule 1 to the bill allows, but does not oblige, the code to specify
“circumstances in which a pub-owning business need not offer to enter into a market rent only lease with a ... tenant”.
Amendment 9 adds to that the example of circumstances
“where an agreement to invest in a tied pub has been entered into”.
The amendment does not change the scope or legal effect of the bill, and it might be helpful in providing an indication of the sort of circumstances that may be consulted on and considered for inclusion in the code. The amendment might also help to improve relations between tenants and pub companies. Such a measure could be beneficial for all involved—tenants and pub-owning businesses—so I will support amendment 9 for that reason.