Welsh Assembly plans to help pubs

Pro-pub Welsh Assembly members expect to set an agenda for action to help community outlets today.

The first formal meeting of the Cross-Party Assembly Beer & Pub Group takes place today, with a range of items on the agenda — from tax and regulation to the beer tie and responsible retailing.

All 60 assembly members (AMs) have been invited to the meeting. Speakers will include Enterprise licensee Phil Jones of Fair Pint, who secured a temporary 38% rent cut after a long-running dispute. He'll discuss "the pros and cons of pubcos".

Other subjects on the agenda include career paths in the pub sector, responsible selling of alcohol and the plans in Scotland, and promoting locally-sourced produce.

Justin Grant, of the Breconshire Brewery, who chairs the Association of Welsh Independent Brewers, is due at the meeting, alongside representatives of larger brewers SABMiller, SA Brains and Coors.

The British Beer & Pub Association and Alcohol Concern are also due to attend.

Nine AMs are currently members of the cross-party group, which was formed in June. It is chaired jointly by Nicholas Bourne, leader of Welsh Conservatives in the National Assembly, and Labour AM Jeff Cuthbert.

A spokesman for the Beer & Pub Group said: "I think that after this meeting we will have a better sense of our future agenda."

Cuthbert said: "Over the coming years I hope to see this group acting as a conduit for the pub and brewing trade to relay concerns to the Government in an effective, constructive manner, promoting the positive role that pubs have — not just on social life, but on jobs, tourism and our very culture."