To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effect on microbreweries of offering a rent only option to tied pubs.

The Government's consultation on establishing a statutory code of practice and an independent adjudicator to govern the relationship between pub companies and their tenants closed on 14 June. The purpose of the consultation was to gather additional evidence to help us better assess the likely impact on the pubs industry of our proposals, including the mandatory free of tie option. We received over 1,130 written responses to the consultation, including from microbreweries, and over 7,000 responses to the online questionnaire. We are currently considering all the evidence submitted during the consultation and on that basis will decide how to act. We intend to publish a Government response to the consultation towards the end of the year.