Pubs are the heartbeat of our communities; we must stand up for them – Tracy Brabin

They also provide a link to our country’s rich cultural heritage. If we look back in history, we can see how so many of the rights we enjoy today came from people sitting down in their local pub and using it as a space to come together and organise – trade unions, workers’ rights and movements for democracy all have their roots in local pubs.

We celebrate and mourn in pubs; we go there for a night out or to meet friends. It truly is the heart of our communities.

During those months of lockdown, many realised the importance of the pub and longed to be back in their local. Pubs came to be recognised as what they are – places of enormous community value.

For years, the British pub has been in peril, with over 25 per cent of hostelries closing since 2001.

The Campaign for Real Ale stated in 2018 that pubs were closing at the rate of 18 a week. And during the coronavirus pandemic, pubs have been hit the hardest and even with restrictions being lifted, pubs are still struggling.

So now, as pubs adapt to social distancing, limited numbers and track and trace, we need to make sure our locals aren’t paying the cost of this pandemic.

For many tenants of pubs owned by large companies, the pandemic is the final nail in the coffin for their businesses, with the business of owning or running a pub becoming unprofitable.

The Old House at Home, a beloved pub in my own constituency of Batley & Spen, is a perfect example. The landlords of this well-loved community pub faced the dual threat of both Covid and mounting repair costs only partly covered by their landlord, the Ei Group.

The debt they found themselves in, combined with Ei’s decision to defer rather than cancel rents during Covid-19, meant they felt they had to make the heartbreaking decision to walk away from the pub industry.

Publicans tell me the Pubs Code, introduced in 2016 to stop the big six pub companies from exploiting their tenants, isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, thanks to various loopholes and a toothless adjudicator.

As the code only applies to “tied tenants”, as opposed to around half of publicans who have entered into “agreements” or “partnerships” with the big companies, pubs such as the Old House aren’t even protected by the code and have no legal means of protecting themselves when things go wrong.

It took four separate investigations into the tied pub sector to bring about the code, with each investigation uncovering more bad business practices than the last.

However, there has not been a single, full investigation of the code since its introduction over four years ago to see if it is working in practice.

I am, therefore, calling for the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee to reconvene as soon as possible to conduct a full investigation into the Pubs Code and the Pubs Code Adjudicator. In the wake of Covid-19, now is the time to stand up for our locals.

Pubs should all be classified as assets of community value, giving local people the chance to buy pubs when they are listed for sale, which would both create a lasting community link by allowing a co-operative model to buy pubs in the community.

This would allow local people to run pubs for the good of the community, rather than for the profits of pub companies, as well as allowing pubs to provide more community-focused services, providing event and meeting space for groups in the neighbourhood, be a showcase for local talents in music and comedy, as well as a
much-needed hub for the community.

I also echo the calls from industry groups calling for a review into how beer is taxed.

At the moment taxes on alcohol do not correct the social costs of its consumption, as it encourages buying cheap alcohol from the supermarket and discourages buyers from going down to the local pub.

With supermarkets able to sell beer as a loss-leading item, it has meant it is cheaper to drink at home, leading to an increase in binge drinking.

By introducing a take-away sales tax on alcohol, we can address the health crisis of binge drinking and its impact on 
anti-social behaviour and we can help pubs become a more profitable business again, allowing them to fulfil their role as a community hub.

Tracy Brabin is Labour MP for Batley & Spen. She is also Shadow Culture Minister.

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