The Stage

Jowell provides Licensing Act guidelines

Published Monday 19 July 2004 at 09:55 by Ruth Gillespie

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell has published guidance to assist local authorities in implementing the new Licensing Act, which the government claims will lead to more live entertainment in pubs and clubs and which takes effect from November 2005.

The law, which received Royal Assent 12 months ago, will replace the unpopular ‘two in a bar rule’, which has been open to misinterpretation by local authorities. New legislation will insist all live performances are covered by an entertainment licence but will make that licence free when applied for with an alcohol permit.

Attempts to provide clearer guidelines to authorities, originally scheduled for September 2003, have delayed the implementation of the legislation as the guidance had to be approved by both Houses of Parliament. However, it was finally published on July 7 and authorities are now expected to begin processing applications under the new strategy from February 2005.

Jowell said: “The countdown to the reform of our outdated licensing laws has now begun. They will be replaced by a regime that will give people more choice about how they spend their free time, while giving the police and licensing authorities tougher powers to bring the minority of badly run premises into line best.”

However, former Musicians’ Union spokesman Hamish Birchall has criticised the government for including additional information in the guidance that should have been incorporated into the act itself.

He said: “The guidance has some good things to say about music and the arts in general but that may not in the end make a lot of difference as to how local authorities interpret licensing policy. The inclusion of extra information in the guidance makes it contradictory to the act but, if it comes down to a straight fight, the act will always take precedence in court.”

The statutory guidance, which was approved by parliament in June, is unusual in that it provides specific guidelines on how the act should be interpreted and implemented but is not an act of parliament itself.

Chris Hepher, head of the licensing department at law firm Kidd Rapinet, said: “Although important, this guidance is secondary legislation. Courts may take the view that what the guidance says is wrong and if they think it contradicts what is contained in the act they can impose their own interpretations.”

Under the previous 1964 act a licence was required if a venue had more than two people producing music as live entertainment. However, thousands of performers claimed they were losing out on work because of local authorities’ rigid enforcement of the law, with several claiming that solo artists accompanied by synthesiser keyboards or electronic drum machines also required a licence. Under the new rules, venue owners will be able to apply for an entertainment licence free of charge when they apply for a licence to serve alcohol.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will release draft application regulations with forms and proposed fees for public consultation in August.