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<p>The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, introduced to this House on
25 June 2014, does not include provision for mandatory free-of-tie. The Government
recognises that some tenant groups and campaigners support this option, which might
appear to offer a simple way of ensuring that tied tenants are no worse off than free-of-tie
tenants. We looked carefully at this measure but have decided not to introduce it.</p><p>The
responses to the Government's consultation on a Statutory Code and Adjudicator for
the pubs sector raised concerns that mandatory free-of-tie would create uncertainty
for pub-owning companies and have an unpredictable impact on the wider pubs sector
which could even undermine the tied model. Even among the polarised views in the industry,
there is strong support for the tie as a business model. What is important to the
Government is that there are protections in place so that the tied model operates
fairly. The reforms being taken forward in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment
Bill will rebalance the relationship between pub-owning companies and their tied tenants,
without threatening the balance of the wider industry.</p>
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