PUBCO-PRICE ESCALATOR AND A FAIR DEAL FOR LOCAL PUBS

That this House welcomes the 2013 beer duty cut and calls for a freeze in 2014; believes that this has benefited brewers but not pubco tenants who face above inflation pubco price increases; notes that Rob Willock, editor of the Publican's Morning Advertiser called this the pubco price escalator and agrees with his comments on 23 October 2013 that "there is one area in which pubco lessees still regularly appear to suffer in the relationship with their landlord that remains unregulated and potentially unfair - that of beer pricing" and that "pubcos fought passionately against the beer-duty-escalator - and won their concession. It's not fair for them to impose the same sort of mechanism on their lessees"; further notes that over six years from 2003 the price of an 11 gallons keg of Foster's increased to Enterprise Inns tenants 4.5 times the increase to freehouses; further notes the latest pubco price hike in February 2014, not followed by wholesalers; deplores Punch Taverns' £2.271 billion profit in 10 years from on-selling beer they don't brew to their own tenants; further notes that the ALMR benchmarking survey shows average tied rents are higher than free of tie, demonstrating that pubco tenants don't get low rents for higher beer prices but are doubly overcharged; and calls on the Treasury to support a market rent-only option for pubco tenants which would allow the open market to self-regulate product price, increase licensee earnings, make pubs more viable and reduce the price of a pint in pubco pubs.