IT is legislation which has taken quite some time to come to fruition and for one of the Scottish licensed trade’s biggest representative groups, the SLTA (Scottish Licensed Trade Association), today’s news that measures in the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill are going ahead means that small pub businesses have been thrown a lifeline.

The Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill, put forward by Labour MSP Neil Bibby several years ago, split opinion although it received cross-party support and was passed by the Scottish Parliament in March 2021, becoming an Act on May 5, 2021.

It had been backed by a broad coalition including the SLTA, the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra), GMB Scotland, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Scottish Tourism Alliance, the Pubs Advisory Service, and many small brewers.

Today’s announcement opens the doors for a Scottish Pubs Code which, the Scottish Government says, will enable eligible tied pub tenants to sell a guest beer from brands that have small production levels, or switch to a market rate lease under which they could purchase products from any supplier.

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Pubs in a tied lease typically buy some or all of their alcohol, and other products and services, from the pub-owning business. A Scottish Pubs Code, the government believes, will “empower tenants of tied pubs” as it confirmed that ministers will lay secondary legislation in Parliament next week which could see the code come into force in October.

The SLTA, which represents independent licensees, has long been a supporter of both the Tied Pubs (Scotland) Bill and a Scottish Pubs Code, claiming that many Scottish tied pub tenants have lost their livelihoods and savings as a result of the way some pub groups operate.

It previously said that measures in the Bill would strengthen the position of tenants in their relationship with landlords, and put Scottish tenants on an equal footing with their counterparts in England. A statutory code of conduct has been in place in England for several years.

However, it was opposed by the Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA), which counts some of the UK’s biggest pub chains among its membership. It campaigned against the Bill, and claimed that its proposals would affect the relationship between tenants and landlords.

A spokesperson said: “It’s a major disappointment for the sector. The code is seeking to fix a problem that doesn’t exist and will come with added costs and complexity at an extremely challenging economic time for Scotland’s pubs.

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"The prospect of a code has already stifled investment into the leased and tenanted sector north of the Border and unfortunately this news is unlikely to reverse that. In 2023, pubs in Scotland closed at twice the rate of England. The sector – which supports around 45,000 jobs – needs positive action from government, not further unwanted, unevidenced and unwarranted interventions."

But Gavin Stevenson, an Inverness-based publican who is the SLTA’s tied pubs policy adviser, does not. He said: “This Act will regulate the tied pubs sector and provide some of the same protections that tenants in England have long enjoyed.”

All the same, Mr Stevenson was critical of the delay in implementing the legislation. Some pub chain owners, including Greene King, had made legal challenges to the Act although there was a decision by the Supreme Court last month not to hear their appeal.

“We are extremely disappointed in the delays to implementation, first as a result of the Scottish Government insisting on an extended two-year period for the Act to take effect,” he noted.

He pointed to “the obstructive behaviour of some of the tied pub companies in pursuing protracted, but futile, legal challenges” and also the Scottish Government announcing that the Act will not take full effect until much later this year.

“Scottish tied pub tenants cannot afford any further delay, and we urge the Scottish Government to accelerate implementation,” he said.