The Stage

Whittingdale lambasts Whitehall’s rejection of licensing recommendations

Published Wednesday 29 July 2009 at 17:25 by Lalayn Baluch

John Whittingdale, chair of the parliamentary Culture, Media and Sport Committee, is the latest high profile figure to hit out at the government for rejecting MPs’ recommendations to relax licensing laws for live music, describing the decision as “utterly pathetic and hopeless”.

Addressing delegates at the Musicians’ Union’s biennial conference yesterday, Conservative MP Whittingdale also said it was “incontestable” that the Licensing Act 2003 has had a negative impact on the live music scene.

His comments follow the publication of the government’s response to the CMS Committee’s report on the legislation, in which it ruled out an exemption for venues with a capacity of up to 200 people.

The government also rejected the culture committee’s calls to reintroduce the “two in a bar rule” – which prior to the law had allowed venues to host performances by one or two musicians without a permit – and said that the Metropolitan Police had no plans to scrap the controversial Form 696.

Following the conference, Whittingdale told The Stage that he had been “extremely disappointed” with the government’s response.

“They say this [the problems with the act] can be addressed through the Minor Variations procedure. But I don’t think that is satisfactory at all. In my view there is no need to have a separate licence for a live music performance in a small venue, and therefore that is why we argued it should be removed entirely,” he said.

“Even though that could be done through Minor Variations, that still involves a bureaucratic procedure, and many licensees may simply wish not to go through that.”

Whittingdale revealed that the committee had succeeded in securing a debate in the House of Commons on October 22, in which he would be reiterating the recommendations to the government.

He added: “The campaign is not over, and we will use the opportunity to press the case again.

“What I would like him [the culture secretary Ben Bradshaw] to do is get up and say ‘yes I recognise the strength of the case, and we will do something’.”

Last week, UK Music chief executive Feargal Sharkey lambasted Whitehall for its response, saying there was no “justification” or “logic” behind the decision.

Meanwhile, Labour MP and CMS Committee member Janet Anderson submitted an Early Day Motion calling on the government to reassess its position on the culture committee’s recommendations.