Scottish Tied Pubs Adjudicator's investigation policy: consultation

Part 2: Background and purpose

The Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021 (‘the Act’) received Royal Assent in May 2021. Its purpose is to govern the relationship between tied pub landlords (pub-owning businesses) and tenants. The Act covers all tied pubs and pub-owning businesses in Scotland. As of May 2023, the Scottish Government estimated that there were just under 700 tied pubs^[1] in Scotland and at least 10 pub-owning businesses^[2].

The Act commits the Scottish Government to make a Scottish Pubs Code (“the Code”) consistent with the regulatory principles in the Act that:

• there is fair and lawful dealing by pub-owning businesses in relation to their tied pub tenants;
• tied pub tenants should not be worse off than they would be if they were not subject to any product or service tie; and
• the tied agreements offer a fair share of risk and reward to both parties.

The Scottish Government conducted consultations on the Code in two parts. The first consultation focused on market rent only leases and guest beer agreements, while the second consultation addressed the remaining aspects of the Code. A further consultation on the Code was issued on 17 September.

The Act also establishes a Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator to oversee, advise on and enforce the Code, ensuring compliance, providing arbitration expertise and resolving disputes between tenants and pub-owning businesses. The Adjudicator has the statutory power to investigate suspected breaches of the Code and may impose enforcement measures, including financial penalties, if a breach is confirmed.

The purpose of this consultation is to outline the Adjudicator’s approach to investigation and enforcement.