22 December 2009
By Tim Hampson
CAMRA continues to lobby Government to overturn the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) decision to take no action to reform beer tie agreements to deliver a fair deal for consumers.
In November, OFT threw out CAMRA's super-complaint on the way the beer tie is being operated, saying there was no evidence it was having a detrimental effect on consumers. In light of the OFT's failure to act CAMRA staff have met with ministers and urged them to reject the OFT ruling, saying it failed to address the legitimate concerns raised both in the super-complaint and the damming Business and Enterprise Committee report.
Consumer minister Kevin Brennan and business minister Pat McFadden were told the OFT ruling did nothing to address the imbalance in the landlord/lessee partnership which is bad news for consumers, leading to higher prices, less choice and under-investment in pubs.
The CAMRA delegation of Chief Executive Mike Benner, Jonathan Mail and Emily Ryans was supported by long time CAMRA supporter Lord Bilston, formerly the MP Dennis Turner.
Head of public affairs and policy Jonathan Mail said it was a positive sign that the ministers agreed to the meeting and we used the opportunity to reiterate our position that the government must overturn the OFT decision.
Jonathan said:
'We voiced our concerns over exploitation of the tie by the pubcos and the higher wholesale prices being paid by tied tenants compared to free-of-tie licensees.We highlighted the differences between wholesale prices paid by tied tenants and those free-of-tie and repeated our concerns that consumers are suffering higher prices, reduced choice and loss of valued community pubs.'
Further information:
- The Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, formerly known as the Business and Enterprise Committee (BEC) has held another hearing on the beer tie and it hasn't ruled out a possible referral to the Competition Commission. In its original report, the BEC had recommended a full-scale review of the tie by the Competition Commission and "urgent action by the Government" and it could repeat these calls when it reports later this month.
- CAMRA has met with the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament in Brussels to express concern at the OFT's failure to act.
- CAMRA's super-complaint, 'A Fair Share for the Consumer', was published in July and can be viewed at www.camra.org.uk/supercomplaint