The Pubs Code etc. Regulations 2016

Significant increase in price: services E+W

6.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, a “significant increase” in the price of a service (“the relevant service”) supplied to a tied pub tenant takes place on the issue to the tied pub tenant of an invoice for that service (“the relevant invoice”) where—

(a) the relevant service has previously been supplied to the tied pub tenant,

(b) the unit price of that service on the relevant invoice is higher than its unit price on the most recent previous invoice for that service issued to the tied pub tenant, and

(c) the following two conditions are met.

(2) The first condition is that one or more invoices for the relevant service were issued to the tied pub tenant in the comparison period.

(3) The second condition is that—

where—

• A is the amount that comparison period services would have cost the tied pub tenant if they had been invoiced at current period prices;

• B is the amount that comparison period services cost the tied pub tenant at the prices actually invoiced;

• C is the relevant annual percentage change in the consumer price index or, where that is negative, zero.

(4) In this regulation—

(a) “service” means a service which is supplied under a service tie(1);

(b) “comparison period services” means all services invoiced to the tied pub tenant in the comparison period, in the quantities so invoiced, but excluding any service for which no invoice was issued to the tied pub tenant in the current period;

(c) “current period” means the period of 4 weeks ending with the day on which the relevant invoice is issued;

(d) “the comparison period” means the period of 4 weeks ending with the day 12 months before the day on which the relevant invoice is issued;

(e) “current period price”, in relation to a service, means the price of that service on the last invoice for that service issued during the current period;

(f) “invoice for services” includes an invoice which covers (in addition to services) products; and references to services being invoiced are to be read accordingly;

(g) “the relevant annual percentage change in the consumer price index” means the annual percentage change in the consumer price index most recently published before the day on which the relevant invoice is issued, in respect of the most recent month covered by that publication.

(5) The prices to be used in determining the unit price of the relevant service for the purposes of paragraph (1), and in calculating A and B for the purposes of paragraph (3), are prices—

(a) excluding value added tax; and

(b) disregarding the effect of any discounts which the pub-owning business was not contractually required to give to the tied pub tenant.

(6) For the purposes of this regulation, services invoiced to the tied pub tenant are different services if—

(a) they have different names on the invoice or invoices in question, or

(b) they are invoiced in different units (for example, in units of time of different lengths).

Commencement Information

I1 Reg. 6 in force at 21.7.2016, see reg. 1(b)

(1)

Section 72(1) of SBEEA 2015 defines “service tie”.