Tory challenge issued to child licence ‘lottery’

Published Thursday 12 July 2007 at 14:10 by Alistair Smith

Exclusive: Shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey has thrown his weight behind Stagecoach Theatre Arts’ campaign to overhaul “seriously flawed” child licensing legislation.

Campaigners claim the legislation prevents young performers from breaking into the entertainment industry and is putting them at risk.

Vaizey has tabled a series of Parliamentary questions to newly appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls, asking him to address the concerns raised by Stagecoach.

The opposition spokesman said that he had decided to become involved with the stage school chain’s campaign after reading of its complaints of a “postcode lottery” in The Stage.

He said: “I was very concerned when I read about Stagecoach’s campaign. It’s important that children involved in productions receive proper protection.

“At the same time, however, it is important children do not lose out on opportunities because a local authority is taking too strict an interpretation of the law. I hope the new department will find time to look at an issue that affects the lives of thousands of children.”

Stagecoach has complained that local authorities are currently interpreting legislation in a vast range of ways.

This means children residing in boroughs with a strict interpretation of the law may miss out on opportunities to appear in professional productions because of overzealous or poorly briefed local authority officials.

Vaizey has asked Balls to explain what guidance his department gives to local authorities on the issue, what discussion he has had with local authorities about it, and whether he will consider issuing new guidance.

Stagecoach said that it was looking forward to reading Balls’ response. Previously, the Department for Education and Skills, which has just been replaced by the newly formed Department for Children, Schools and Families with Balls as its first secretary of state, had told Stagecoach the issue was not one of its priorities and it was not considering altering the legislation or introducing national guidelines for local authorities to follow.

Anton Brookes, one of the directors of the Stagecoach Agency, said he was “delighted to have a prominent politician such as Ed Vaizey” involved with the campaign and hoped that the government would implement a “new and efficient system” for child licensing.

He added: “Stagecoach has been overwhelmed by the positive response to our campaign. Across the board, the entertainment industry has offered a resounding message of support to our call for a change to child licensing procedures.”

For more information about the Stagecoach Child Licence Campaign, see www.stagecoach.co.uk/childlicence