Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) Levy Methodology for 2022-23
Information on the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) Levy Methodology for 2022-23
Applies to England and Wales
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Details
Section 63(1) of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (the Act) authorises the PCA to impose a levy on pub-owning businesses towards PCA’s expenses. Section 63(5) of the Act permits the PCA to vary the amount to be paid by pub-owning businesses, to reflect the expense and time that the PCA expects to spend in dealing with matters relating to them in the application of the Code. Before imposing the levy, the PCA must obtain the consent of the Secretary of State – section 63(2) of the Act.
The PCA obtained the Secretary of State’s approval for the imposition of a levy of £4,523,118 for the financial year 2022-23. The levy has been raised against the six pub-owning businesses with 500 or more tied pub tenants in England and Wales.
The levy total comprises £3,425,118 in connection with the PCA’s forecasted costs for the 2022-23 financial year and £1,098,000 representing the outstanding 80.03% loan provided by BEIS for the 2020-21 financial year in place of raising a levy in that year. The levy portion representing the outstanding loan value has been imposed on each pub-owning business in the same percentages used to calculate the levy apportionment for that financial year, had the levy been approved and applied in its entirety. The BEIS loan has been repaid in full for the period when no Ministerial approval to raise a levy in 2020-21 was granted.
The 2022-23 levy apportionment was determined by fixed and variable elements based on:
- The fixed costs of operating the office apportioned on a percentage basis reflecting the number of tied pubs each of the six pub-owning businesses owned on 31 December 2021. (30%)
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The variable costs including
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the number of arbitration cases involving each pub-owning business in the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021. (30%).
- a percentage reflecting the amount of time PCA spent in connection with regulatory activity for each pub-owning business in the period 1 January 2021 – 31 December 2021. (40%)
| 1 | Fixed costs | 30% | Based on tied pub numbers for each pub-owning business on 31 December 2021. |
| 2 | Arbitration | 30% | Based on: a) the number of new arbitration cases; and b) other arbitration cases open for any time between 1 January and 31 December 2021 |
| 3 | Regulatory activity | 40% | Amount of regulatory time spent by PCA in connection with each pub-owning business between 1 January and 31 December 2021. |
The total levy amount together with the loan repayment contributions levied on the six pub-owning businesses range from 4.42% to 36.3% of the total amount. The minimum amount levied is £199,847.61 and the maximum is £1,639,680.65.
The contract liability (underspend) due to each pub-owning business arising from the 2021-22 financial year was £1,084,179. This was returned in the proportion in which each pub-owning business contributed to the 2021-22 levy.