Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 23 March 2021
To say that the evidence that we heard during consideration of the bill was polarised is putting it mildly, and it is fair to say that committee members were more than a little disappointed with that. At the outset, the bill struggled to gain the support of the whole committee, but Mr Bibby’s persistence and his willingness to find a way forward at stage 2 gradually won that support. Of course, the Tories tried to sabotage the bill at stage 2 with hundreds of pointless amendments until they realised the mistake that they were making and gave up their attempt to talk the bill out of parliamentary time altogether.
Although the bill began its journey pre-Covid, it took on new significance as the impact on the tied sector and the wider pub sector became clearer during the pandemic. We can see the continuing impact simply by taking a walk along any of Scotland’s high streets. The pubs were the first premises to be closed, and they will probably be the last to reopen. We know that, sadly, many of them may not reopen at all.
Establishing a new pub code will allow the Scottish ministers to set out the circumstances in which a market-rent-only lease is offered. That will ensure that we get a balance between the rights of the pub-owning companies and their tenants, which I hope will be helpful. It will introduce consultation and engagement into the process, meaning that a tenant who is satisfied with their current lease arrangements will be under no obligation to accept market rent only. All of that should, hopefully, make for a stronger and more successful tenanted pub sector in Scotland.
The bill applies to the tied sector, which accounts for around 17 per cent of pubs, or 750 out of a total of about 4,000. The profile of tied pubs in Scotland is very different from that in Wales and England, but the bill offers some protections and increased opportunities for consultation, as the member in charge has continually reminded us.
At an earlier stage of the bill’s journey, research that the Government carried out did not appear to back the case for change. There were sufficient voices telling us about problems in the tied sector, principally involving the higher costs of beers and ciders and property maintenance issues. On the plus side, the tied model can offer a cheaper way into pub management for many, with the added benefits of including satellite TV and wi-fi, which might otherwise be too expensive for new entrants to pay for themselves.
The arrangements under the bill that will permit tenants to introduce a choice of at least one guest beer beyond the tied arrangement will surely be welcomed by everyone. However, I leave it to other members to give us a flavour of that and of other aspects of the bill.
I offer congratulations to Neil Bibby for taking the bill through; to our committee clerks for supporting us; and to the Scottish Government for showing a willingness to listen to the pleas from the sector and, ultimately, for supporting the bill.
18:51