Your voice

The Publican has always championed the trade's causes. Editor Caroline Nodder reviews our campaigns.

There has been no such thing as a quiet news week in the ever-evolving pub industry over the last three decades, but certain issues have taken up more than their fair share of column inches and have sparked some of The Publican's key editorial campaigns.

Smoking​

The idea of a complete ban on smoking in pubs has been the ultimate sword of Damocles, hanging by a thread over the heads of licensees for the best part of a decade.

Small community pubs and marginal businesses that rely on smokers for regular trade fear closure if an outright ban is introduced.

In light of this, in 1998 The Publican, through its Pub & Bar show, joined trade leaders and then-health secretary Tessa Jowell in launching the self-regulatory Charter on Smoking in pubs which recommended:

• Signage for all pubs to offer customers choice
• Use of ventilation and air cleaners wherever possible
• Separate no-smoking areas installed wherever possible.

The work done by the industry through the Charter almost certainly helped to delay more stringent action by the government on this issue in the late 1990s until 2005 and The Publican followed up the launch of the Charter with a series of initiatives to help lobby the government against an outright smoking ban, which has crept back onto the health agenda.

This year hundreds of Publican readers have lent their support to the Butt Out! campaign which aimed to stop local authorities being given the power to introduce local bans. Our Butt Out! buses also visited the Welsh Assembly to lobby members against an outright ban planned there for next year.

And a petition and selection of readers' views were included in a comprehensive submission delivered by The Publican this month to the Department of Health as part of its latest consultation on smoking regulation. We await the outcome.

Red tape​

The increasing tide of red tape and regulation that has swept over the industry since the 1980s has left many licensees working ever longer hours to try and keep on top of the mounds of paperwork.

Five years ago in 2000, The Publican linked up with the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers to launch the Red Tape Costs campaign. The initiative centred on trade calls for:

• A single department to co-ordinate all legislation affecting the pub industry. This was taken up by the government when it moved responsibility for the drinks trade to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Unfortunately the DCMS has not been given the authority or prominence needed to be an effective champion for the pub trade and has failed to live up to pre-election promises on "joined up government"
• Impact assessments to be carried out on all legislation to check the effects on small business. Another ministerial promise that has not been adhered to
• Simpler taxation. Still on the industry's wishlist, although the internet has simplified some procedures
• Licensing reform to be speeded through. Five years later we stand on the cusp of reform but whether it has simplified the system as was promised remains to be seen
• Food-related regulation minimised. The EU and Westminster remain obsessed with food and health regulation and labelling requirements and health and safety legislation have if anything increased significantly since the trade began its campaign.

Red tape remains a crucial concern for licensees in 2005, as The Publican's Market Report 2005 showed, thousands of licensees consider it to be a major problem and threat to their businesses and The Publican will continue to challenge the government's stance.

Rural pubs​

The Save Our Pubs campaign was launched by The Publican in 2000 in response to concerns that rural and village pubs were being hit hard by drink-drive restrictions and the move towards drinking in the home. Over the past 30 years many village pubs have seen the structure of village life change completely. Village services such as post offices and community centres have closed and in many cases houses have been bought by city dwellers for weekend use - which has cut weekday trade in half for many licensees.

The Publican campaigned for some form of rate relief to be introduced for village pubs to help offset the loss of trade.

A well-supported petition run in our newspaper sent in to the then-Department of Rural Affairs led The Publican's then-editor Lorna Harrison to be asked to appear before the House of Commons committee tasked with deciding on the issue of rate relief.

Following the hearing, at which evidence was also heard from licensees and industry bodies including the Federation of Licensed Victuallers' Associations, the government granted rate relief to selected rural pubs on the basis that they are, as had been argued by our readers, essential village services.

The trade is continuing to lobby for the criteria to be relaxed and this financial help to be extended to more rural outlets and The Publican will continue to support struggling licensees through its work with initiatives like Pub is the Hub and the Community Pubs Foundation.