Latest PICA-Service licensees accuse process of being a 'tokenistic pantomine'

Enterprise Inns was found in breach of the spirit of its Code of Practice earlier this month in the fifth case to go through the service. The PICA-Service said that while its panel “recognised the level of support the respondents had supplied to the complainants over a period of time, it had concerns as to failures to demonstrate that the level and quality of its communication with its tenants were to the standards to be expected of them when undertaking a rent review”.

Val and Gavin Spencer of the Cock at Lavenham, Suffolk, have complained that they feel the system was inadequate and lacking clarity.

Wholly disappointed​

Val Spencer, who is a supporter of Fair Deal for Your Local,  said: “We feel wholly disappointed and let down by the system and the ‘findings’. With 15 months of battling through the internal procedures of Enterprise Inns and PICAS own procedures we expected to find something of value to resolve the past and improve the future but have been left in limbo.

“Our four clear complaints are based in the detail of the much lauded Code of Practice and Industry Framework Code and we anticipated that those complaints would be upheld, not upheld or partially so, as the PICA-Service offers to do, but even after repeated asking we are still waiting for these answers”.

She also raised concern about the process of having the meetings at the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) offices.

 “It is not fair or reasonable to find yourself sitting in a pub waiting for your call back to BBPA offices while the person you know has caused you years of heartache and stress sits in the personal office of a very senior BBPA member. So, comfortable with this situation was the Enterprise Inns representative that he confirmed his use of this office in front of us all, no shame involved.

“Our feeling of receiving a ‘reactionary’ ambiguous award aside, we are saddened by the fact we took part in a tokenistic pantomime process that appears to show a tacit acceptance of bad business practice with little attempt to enforce the principles of self-regulation."

Real injustice​

Greg Mulholland MP, coordinator of the Fair Deal for Your Local campaign and chair of the Parliamentary Save the Pub Group said this case highlights that while PICA-Service is presented as a quasi-legal process of genuine arbitration “it is neither”.

He added: “Considering how many lessees have grievances with their pubco and are being overcharged, it is clear that having a pitifully small number of cases being ‘heard’ is helpful to brushing the many cases of real injustice and exploitation under the carpet. 

“Considering how many lessees have grievances with their pubco and are being overcharged, it is clear that having a pitifully small number of cases being ‘heard’ is helpful to brushing the many cases of real injustice and exploitation under the carpet. 

“We need a statutory code of practice for the large companies including a market rent only option so at last we can have a fair deal for licensees and local pubs.”

Bernard Brindley, chairman of the newly formed Pubs Governing Body (PGB), said: “PICA Service is first and foremost an effective alternative method of dispute resolution with the power to address pub company compliance with the code and crucially to compensate the tenant where a breach has been identified.  It is a strong, robust, independent and, importantly, low-cost process aimed specifically at lessees and tenants who are seeking redress.  

“The vast majority of enquiries to PICA Services have been resolved prior to being heard by the PICA Services panel. This should be viewed as a success and not derided as a failure.  There are currently 25 live cases with six progressing to hearings.

“Tenants and lessees do of course have the right to go to court with their dispute if they are dissatisfied with, or seeking an alternative to, PICA Services, but the cost is much higher.  PICA Services was introduced as a low cost alternative, and in request to the government’s call for self-regulation. 

“The newly-formed PGB is continually improving the level of information, advice and guidance PICA Services offers, including the transparency of dealings and the disclosure of panel hearings.”