Public Houses (Hansard, 24 April 1991)

§ Mr. David Nicholson
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he has any proposals to provide compensation for public house tenants displaced as a result of brewers conforming to the 1989 Tied Estate Orders; what representations he has received; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Redwood
Following the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of beer, the Government introduced the Landlord and Tenant Act 1990 in response to concerns about security of tenure for pub tenants. The Act extends to pub tenants the same protection as other business tenants and for the first time requires brewers to480W pay statutory compensation to tenants whose pubs are taken back into management. Tenancies entered into after 10 July 1989 are already protected by the Landlord and Tenant Act while those entered into before that date will be protected by July 1992 at the latest. The Government are naturally concerned about current threats by certain national brewers to issue "notices to quit" to tenants who are not yet protected by the Act. We understand that most of these notices will be issued for the purpose of renegotiating the terms of tenancy agreements and will not ultimately lead to evictions.

§ Mr. David Nicholson
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has on the total number of public houses which are owned by the regional brewers.

§ Mr. Redwood
The latest information we have is the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of beer published in March 1989 which found that regional brewers owned just over 7,000 public houses. As a result of the measures introduced in response to that report, in particular the requirement that national brewers should free from ties half their pubs in excess of 2,000, the total number of pubs owned by regional brewers is likely to change. The Director General of Fair Trading will be looking at the number of pubs owned by regional brewers when he conducts his review of the effectiveness of the measures introduced in response to that report in 1993–94.

§ Mr. David Nicholson
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what information he has of the number of public houses which are currently being put on the market for sale by the major brewers in order to comply with the 1989 Supply of Beer Orders; what representations he has received; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Redwood
The Supply of Beer (Tied Estate) Order which was introduced in response to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of beer requires the national brewers to release from ties half of the pubs they own in excess of 2,000 by November 1992. As a result, approximately 11,000 pubs will be freed on an industrywide basis. There are a number of ways in which national brewers can do this including leasing free of ties, selling to another brewer or selling to a sitting tenant. The steps so far taken by the national brewers suggest that they are using a mixture of these options to meet the requirement in the order. It is up to each brewer to decide how many premises to sell and how many to lease free of ties and we do not have figures for the total number of pubs which the national brewers currently have on the market. However, the Director General of Fair Trading will be looking at the number of pubs sold by national brewers when he conducts his review of the effectiveness of the measures introduced in response to the MMC report in 1993–94.