Bill Esterson – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2015-11-02.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had on the statutory pubs code, and the Government’s policy on pubs, with people or bodies concerned with the pubs industry.

Mr Marcus Jones

Since I was appointed Community Pubs Minister on 20 May 2015, I have met with senior representatives from a broad range of bodies within the pubs industry. These include the British Beer and Pub Association, the Campaign for Real Ale, Punch Taverns, the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, the British Institute of Innkeeping, the Perceptions Group and the Pubs Advisory Service. I have also met with my rt Hon Friend the Member for Halesowen and Rowley Regis (James Morris), and one of his constituents, to engage with the wide range of issues affecting the pub and brewing industry.

British pubs have always been at the heart of our local communities, and we are empowering people to preserve them, as well as other local landmarks and places of interest. On 11 September 2015, we took forward our Manifesto commitment by announcing the £1.5m Pub Loan Fund which will help community groups towards the cost of acquiring local pubs threatened with closure.

This is in addition to local people being able to nominate any local building or land they love as an ‘asset of community value’ and then, if it comes up for sale, having 6 months to raise the funds to bid to buy it. So far more than 800 pubs have been listed.