Circuses could find themselves paying up to six times more than originally expected for permits under the new Licensing Act, because of varying interpretations of the law by local authorities.
In some areas, circuses are being charged increased rates for premises licences if they are on land shared with other facilities, such as air strips or leisure centres, while those who have opted for temporary event licences have found themselves limited to opening for just four days a week.
Leading figures from the circus industry are set to meet licensing minister James Purnell at the end of the month to urge him to tackle the anomalies, which they say present “great difficulties” for the industry.
Campaigner Chris Barltrop told The Stage: “Unforeseen difficulties are becoming apparent. The actual licence fee was, we were told, going to be at the minimum end of the scale because circuses go on to empty land and the fee is based on the rateable value of the property.
“If an empty field is rated at nil, it would be the minimum, which is £100. In fact, in several cases, local authority licensing officers have advised that if a site is part of a complex - for example, a field belonging to a leisure centre - circuses must pay a much higher charge, in one case as much as £600.”
The alternative - the temporary event licence - is proving problematic because it limits the number of people who can attend a performance and restricts operating times to 96 hours a week. Barltrop added: “If you start that from 4.30pm on a Wednesday, that gives you until 4.30 on Sunday - five operating days - but at least one authority has interpreted it as four days, not 96 hours, because they say it begins at midnight.”
The problems have surfaced since the act came into force in November, on top of fears that having to apply for separate licences in every local authority area will put many small touring circuses out of business. A private member’s bill put forward last year by Conservative MP Peter Luff called for the system to be replaced by one of annual licences but is yet to receive its second reading.
Luff said: “What these latest issues show is that the Licensing Act has even more problems than I’ve been claiming and makes it even more urgent that we have this meeting with the minister. The bottom line is - does he really want to go down in history as the man who killed touring circus?”
A government spokeswoman said the majority of fields and public spaces fell into the lowest rateable category but that an independent panel was currently reviewing the situation. Temporary event licences should start at the time specified by applicants on their forms, she added.
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