The Stage

MPs call for U-turn on “damaging” licensing law

Published Thursday 14 May 2009 at 10:44 by Lalayn Baluch

The House of Commons’ Culture, Media and Sport Committee has criticised that the Licensing Act 2003 for “hampering” live music performances, and is calling on the government to relax laws by reintroducing the ‘two in a bar rule’ for unamplified gigs and implementing an exemption for venues with a capacity of up to 200 people.

The committee also believes that a “portable” licence issued by a single authority, such as those given to cruise ships, should be created for travelling performers, including circuses, to cut down on the financial and administrative burdens placed on artists when on tour.

It has advised that some low-risk travelling shows, such as Punch and Judy productions, should be exempt from licensing altogether.

The recommendations have been published in a report by the committee, following its post legislative scrutiny of the act, which aimed to assess whether it had delivered the benefits promised by the government.

The document criticised the legislation and its accompanying guidance for linking music with public order issues, and emphasised that music “should not be treated as a disruptive activity which will inevitably lead to nuisance and disorder”.

According to committee chair John Whittingdale, the government’s decision to scrap the two in a bar rule - which prior to the introduction of the licensing act had allowed venues to host performances by one or two musicians without the need for a permit – has had a “damaging effect” on live performances.

Launching the report, Whittingdale explained: “An awful lot of pubs had live performances by one or two individuals on a Friday night, because of the two in a bar rule. When the licensing act came in [to force] and it required them to go through the cost and bureaucracy of obtaining a premises license, they just thought we are not going to bother. So the number of venues available for live performances reduced.”

The committee hopes that the reintroduction of the rule will boost the number of venues offering live music, and will give young musicians more opportunities to perform. It has also recommended that venues with a capacity of 200 people or fewer be made exempt from licensing laws.

Meanwhile, Whittingdale also called for the Metropolitan Police’s controversial Form 696 - which requires venues to give details of performers and genre of music - to be scrapped.

He said: “This [form] goes way beyond the provisions of the act, we can see no reason for it, and therefore we recommend that it should be scrapped. There was a feeling that it was being used to discriminate against particular forms of music, like hip hop, and it is a cause of resentment.”

The report also recommended that lap-dancing clubs be licensed under the Local Government Act rather than under the licensing act. It recognised that while such venues are not the same as “sex encounter establishments” – the category under which the government is proposing to reclassify them – it advised that they should not be licensed in the same way as pubs and clubs.

For the industry’s response to the report see next week’s print edition of The Stage