Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) Levy Methodology for 2023-24
Published 13 May 2024
Applies to England and Wales
© Crown copyright 2024
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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 £2,969,507 for the financial year 2023-24. The levy has been raised against the six pub-owning businesses with 500 or more tied pub tenants in England and Wales.
The 2023-24 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 2022 (40%)
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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 2022 to 31 December 2022. (20%).
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a percentage reflecting the amount of time PCA spent in connection with regulatory activity for each pub-owning business in the period 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022. (40%)
| 1 | Fixed costs | 40% | Based on tied pub numbers for each pub-owning business on 31 December 2022. |
| 2 | Arbitration | 20% | Based on: a) the number of new arbitration cases; and b) other arbitration cases open for any time between 1 January and 31 December 2022. |
| 3 | Regulatory activity | 40% | Amount of regulatory time spent by PCA in connection with each pub-owning business between 1 January and 31 December 2022. |
The total levy amount levied on the six pub-owning businesses range from 5.4% to 35.9% of the total amount. The minimum amount levied is £160,059.55 and the maximum is £1,065,934.82.
The contract liability (underspend) due to each pub-owning business arising from the 2022-23 financial year was £2,467,571. The National Audit Office’s certification of the 2021-22 end of year audit was delayed due to the Covid pandemic, so the outstanding 2020-21 loan repayment was included in the 2022-23 levy apportionment. This contributed to the underspend, as did no spend against an investigation, reduced legal and staff costs. The underspend has been returned to the POBs in the proportion in which each pub-owning business contributed to the 2022-23 levy.