Last week, the Government published guidance for trading standards, which confirmed that beer-flow monitoring equipment such as Brulines is not covered under the Act as it is not in “use for trade”.
This is a stark turnaround because, during the Business, Innovation & Skills Committee (BISC) investigation in 2011, the then business minister Ed Davey said the system could fall within the regulations if used to issue fines against licensees.
Davey had said previous assurances given to the committee claiming the equipment did not fall within the Act was “not completely correct”.
The latest decision will disappoint many tied licensees who were hoping for trading standards intervention to check the accuracy of beer-flow monitoring equipment.
The trading standards guidance, published by the National Measurement Office (NMO) last week, claims that “NMO is of the opinion that it is unlikely in practice that flow monitoring equipment is in use for trade” but stipulated that “this position can however only be conclusively established by the courts”.
Chris Wright, of the Pubs Advisory Service, who has been campaigning for action over the equipment, said: “After a chat with the NMO, they hinted that Weights & Measures is not the right piece of legislation and that trading standards should look at other pieces of legislation that are stronger.”
He highlighted the Fraud Act as an area that could be considered if licensees are concerned that they have been penalised wrongly.
Simon Clarke, campaign manager and secretary of the Independent Pub Confederation, said: “The NMO guidance is of no particular benefit in reality.
“The BISC recommended that, where a measurement device such as Brulines is used to police compliance with lease terms it should be properly calibrated and subject to external verification,” Clarke pointed out.
He said the NMO confirmation “is further vindication of the BISCOM (the previous select committee) recommendation that the Act should be amended accordingly”.
Lawyer Peter Coulson said the advice was “interesting” and added: “They have put the lawyers on to this and they are saying the flow monitoring equipment is not being used for trade.”
On suggestions that the Fraud Act could be an area to be considered, Coulson said: “If there is to be any suggestion the pub is being penalised with wrong or misleading information that might be the route.”