Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021

Part 1 The Code and the adjudicator

1 Scottish Pubs Code

(1) The Scottish Ministers must, by regulations, impose requirements and restrictions on pub-owning businesses in connection with tied pubs.

(2) Schedule 1 makes provision about the exercise of the power conferred by this section.

2 Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator

(1) The office of Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator is established.

(2) Schedule 2 makes provision about the office.

3 Duty to act consistently with regulatory principles

(1) The Scottish Ministers must use their best endeavours to exercise the power conferred by section 1 consistently with the regulatory principles.

(2) The adjudicator must use its best endeavours to carry out the adjudicator’s functions consistently with the regulatory principles.

(3) The regulatory principles are—

(a) the principle of fair and lawful dealing by pub-owning businesses in relation to their tied-pub tenants,

(b) the principle that tied-pub tenants should not be worse off than they would be if they were subject to neither a product tie nor a service tie,

(c) the principle that any agreement between a pub-owning business and a tied-pub tenant should fairly share the risks and rewards amongst the parties.

(4) In subsection (3)(b), “product tie” and “service tie” have the meaning given to them in paragraph 5(4) of schedule 1.

4 Scottish Ministers’ duty to seek to make code and appoint adjudicator

(1) Before the end of the period of 2 years beginning with the day that this section comes into force, the Scottish Ministers must—

(a) lay before the Scottish Parliament for approval by resolution a draft Scottish statutory instrument containing regulations under section 1, and

(b) appoint a person to the office of Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt, subsection (1) does not require the Scottish Ministers to do both of those things on the same day.

(3) If the Scottish Parliament approves the draft instrument laid before it in accordance with subsection (1)(a), the Scottish Ministers must make the regulations contained in the draft instrument.

(4) Having—

(a) made regulations under section 1, and

(b) appointed a person to the office of Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator,

the Scottish Ministers may by regulations repeal this section.

5 Review of the code and adjudicator’s performance

(1) As soon as practicable after each review period, the Scottish Ministers must—

(a) prepare a report reviewing, over the period—

(i) the operation of the code, and

(ii) the adjudicator’s performance,

(b) make the report publicly available, and

(c) lay a copy of the report before the Scottish Parliament.

(2) In reviewing the operation of the code, the Scottish Ministers must consider—

(a) the extent to which the code is consistent with the regulatory principles set out in section 3,

(b) whether the code could be modified to reflect those principles more fully.

(3) In reviewing the adjudicator’s performance, the Scottish Ministers—

(a) must consider how effective the adjudicator has been in enforcing the code,

(b) may consider whether it would be desirable to modify any regulations under section 10 or 17,

(c) may consider any other matter the Ministers consider appropriate.

(4) A review period—

(a) begins on 1 April in the calendar year that the preceding review period ended, and

(b) ends on 31 March in the calendar year falling 3 years after it began.

(5) But the first review period—

(a) begins on the day that section 2 comes into force, and

(b) ends on 31 March in the calendar year falling 2 years after it began.

6 Ministerial guidance to the adjudicator

(1) As a result of the findings of a review under section 5, the Scottish Ministers may give guidance to the adjudicator about any matter relating to the functions of the adjudicator.

(2) In carrying out the functions of the adjudicator, the adjudicator must take any guidance given under subsection (1) into account.