CAMRA has called on all tied tenants in England and Wales to let it know what they think about the Pubs Code via a new online survey.

The Campaign played an instrumental role in bringing in the Pubs Code for England and Wales and is keen to ensure tied tenants’ views are front and centre in the upcoming second statutory review of the legislation.

The code is a fundamental part of the legislation designed to regulate and balance the relationship between tied tenants and their pub companies. It was brought in after the self-regulation regimes of pub-owning businesses was found by parliament to have fundamentally failed.

A review of how it is working has been launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and will cover April 2019 – March 2022.

CAMRA national chairman Nik Antona (pictured) said: “The introduction of the Pubs Code was the culmination of years of campaigning by tied tenants, however, it’s not delivering as it was intended. It’s vital that tied tenants take part in the Pubs Code review and are able to be honest and open about where it is working, and more importantly where it isn’t.

“Every time legislation concerning pub companies is proposed or reviewed, we see the inevitable slew of press releases and reports extolling the virtues of the tied model. While pub companies certainly offer services for tenants, it is vital that tied tenants are given the opportunity to share views independently of their pub companies, and with the option to remain anonymous if they wish – which our survey allows.

“We will be submitting the survey results to the Department for Energy, Business and Industrial Strategy, alongside our formal submission which will raise issues such as inflated dilapidations bills, guest beer rights, and the necessary expansion of the remit of the code to include more tied tenants and types of operating agreements.”

Complete the survey here: https://forms.office.com/r/SBN3ymJax9