Bill Esterson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Esterson on 2016-04-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, who will act on behalf of the Pubs Code Adjudicator in situations where one of the parties to that adjudication objects to the Adjudicator’s involvement.

Anna Soubry

The Pubs Code Adjudicator has been appointed by the Secretary of State to arbitrate alleged breaches of the statutory obligations set out in the Pubs Code. The Adjudicator will therefore be operating within the statutory framework provided in the SBEE Act and Pubs Code regulations. The parties to an alleged breach of the Pubs Code are not afforded an automatic right to object to the Adjudicator discharging what is a statutory duty. This is in contrast to the position of arbitrators appointed to deal with a private arbitration of contractual disputes.

The Adjudicator will make and publish arrangements for dealing with any conflict of interest as he is required to do by the SBEE Act [Schedule 1 para 10]. These will be the relevant arrangements for any parties wishing to raise any questions about conflicts of interest. Where the parties raise any objection to the Adjudicator arbitrating a dispute, it is for the Adjudicator to decide whether it is appropriate for him to appoint another arbitrator (as the Act allows).