Scrutiny of the pub industry is welcome but MPs must tackle rise in beer duty To make this system of enhanced self-regulation work, pub companies have made huge strides. Alongside our Framework Code of Practice, we have set up PIRRS, an arbitration service for disputed pub rents. As a result of these new measures, pubcos are now taking steps to make this code of practice legally binding. Through a court of law, or through another new industry initiative, the Pub Independent Conciliation and Arbitration Service (PICAS), any lessee or tenant can complain that a pub company has not met the new standards required by the industry. PICAS will have the authority to impose costs on pub companies and report breaches of the Code to an accreditation body, which has the ultimate sanction of reviewing company codes and removing their accreditation. We are on track to meet the challenging target of having this new complaints process up-and-running by the end of February. The code of practice itself will not be set in stone. We have just agreed new enhancements to it - something that a statutory system of regulation couldn't easily do - and we will keep it under review so that it reflects best practice in the industry. It can certainly be enhanced again. Furthermore, the industry, with its wide range of representative bodies, has in the past been accused of having a fragmented approach to industry issues. These reforms provide an opportunity for more collaboration to change that. We have certainly worked hard, through the BBPA, to persuade the Government towards the view that these flexible and low-cost reforms offer the best way forward for the pub trade, and make no apology for that. But allegations, in recent days, that pub companies or the BBPA have a guiding hand on Government policy are entirely fanciful - and will certainly perplex those who have been following our industry in recent years. Other areas of government policy towards pubs need urgent attention. In a misguided attempt to address the perceived causes of irresponsible drinking, pubs have endured strangulating increases in red tape - yet more and more people are drinking at home. Even worse, the Chancellor has stuck to the disastrous policy of the beer duty escalator, which has seen the tax on a pub pint rise by 35pc since March 2008. Yet more above-inflation beer tax rises are planned in the Budget in March. Many pubs have adapted successfully to a tough regulatory environment on alcohol sales, largely through a big move into food. Yet with beer still the key seller in most pubs, these tax increases are simply unsustainable if we are to avoid further pub closures. The tied pub model has been around for centuries, and we have had endless inquiries and debates into how it operates. Scrutiny is welcome, but set against a 35pc rise in the tax on beer, duty is the 'elephant in the room' that has been ignored by MPs. We need Parliament to work with us to tackle the real barriers to a thriving brewing industry and pub trade. That way, we can breathe new life into an iconic British industry, and create thousands of much-needed new jobs. Ralph Findlay is chief executive of Marston's and a former chairman of the British Beer & Pub Association.