Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021

Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021

2021 asp 17

The Act

Part 2:  Giving Effect to the Code

Investigations by the adjudicator

Section 9: Enforcement action

23. If the adjudicator concludes following an investigation that a pub-owning business has failed to comply with the code, the adjudicator may do one or more of the following: direct the pub-owning business on how it should comply with the code; direct the pub-owning business to publish information; and/or impose financial penalties on the pub-owning business (section 10 says more about financial penalties – see below).

24. Failing to comply with a direction under this section will be a breach of the code (see schedule 1, paragraph 2). If, at the conclusion of an investigation, the adjudicator directs a pub-owning business, the adjudicator must then monitor the business’s compliance with those directions (under section 9(2)). If the adjudicator finds that the directions have not been complied with, the adjudicator may impose a financial penalty. The decision about what enforcement action to take at the end of any investigation will be for the adjudicator to take in light of all the facts and circumstances of the case.

25. If the adjudicator directs a pub-owning business to publish information relevant to the investigation then the adjudicator can specify in writing to the pub-owning business what the information is, how it should be delivered or presented, and by what deadline the information should be provided.