You asked
In November 2018, the ONS published its Economies of Ale report. As well as having a fantastic title, it was an extremely interesting read. Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to ask for the same data points included in the 2018 report, but for 2019. This includes:
- Total number of pubs and bars in the UK (in 2019)
- Turnover of pubs and bars in 2019 (if possible, I appreciate that last year's report only had figures from 2016)
- Employment in pubs and bars, by numbers of employees per pub (in 2019)
- Independent pubs by employee numbers (in 2019)
- Pubs owned by enterprises with 250 or more units, by employee numbers (in 2019)
- % change in number of pubs by local authority (2018 vs 2019)
Where possible, I would like to get these figures broken down by country (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Some of the data that you request are already available on the Nomis website. Nomis provides estimates of public houses and bars, at various geographic levels, for 2019. Please note that the numbers on Nomis may differ slightly compared to those in the Economies of Ale publication, due to methodological differences.
The remaining data that you request shall be provided in the follow-up article to Economies of Ale - with the exception of the turnover data, which shall be provided for 2017 (latest year). Work is ongoing to update this article, although there is no confirmed publication date yet. As such S.22(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies whereby information is exempt from release if there is a view to publish the information in the future. This exemption is subject to a public interest test. Whilst we recognise the desirability of information being freely available, we also acknowledge that public authorities must have the freedom to be able to determine their own publication timetables. This allows them to deal with the necessary preparation, administration, and context of publication. Furthermore, public interest is best served through the public having confidence that the information published by ONS is accurate and final. Release on an ad-hoc basis would not achieve this aim and will cause unnecessary confusion if they were to be misrepresented. In this case, exempting the information clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure.
Please contact Cities@ons.gov.uk for further information.