The Stage

Guide simplifies Licensing Act for street arts and circuses

Published Tuesday 8 February 2005 at 13:25 by Ruth Gillespie

Circuses and street art promoters are being offered step-by-step guidance on the government’s updated Licensing Act in an attempt to demystify the new legislation following widespread confusion.

Although the document, created jointly by the Independent Street Arts Network, the Circus Arts Forum, Equity and Arts Council England, does not offer advice on how to avoid the licence fees now facing the industry, it does attempt to simplify the process of licence application and will be used as a benchmark to assess how the new law is implemented across England and Wales.

Bill Gee, co-ordinator of ISAN, said: “It is there to demystify the law for street art promoters and circuses and to make it simpler for them to apply for a licence. But it is also a way of collecting evidence on how the act is being implemented between different authorities. If the law doesn’t work and it turns out to be about limiting the amount of street arts and circus activities that take place under it, then that is something we will go back to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport about.”

Under the new system, which came into effect this week, outdoor concerts, theatre performances and festivals attracting audiences of 5,000 people or more will be required to make a one-off payment of between £1,000 and £64,000 on top of their public entertainment licence, which will cost between £100 and £635.

While organisers of large commercial programmes will be able to incorporate the extra costs into the price of their tickets, industry figures have warned that large-scale community and not for profit events will no longer be able to function when the additional charge is incorporated into their budgets.

In addition, circus performers and travelling companies have strongly objected to a clause in the Licensing Act that means they will be forced to apply for a special 12-month public entertainment permit for every venue they intend to visit to be able to perform there. For some circuses this could mean applying for up to 60 licences a year, each costing as much as £500.

CAF director Ali Forbes said: “The Licensing Act didn’t consult with us in the first place and it hasn’t accommodated circuses within its new policies. We got together to produce the guide to help people understand the act and how they should go about applying for a licence.”

Home Office civil servants, who were originally in charge of steering the new legislation through Parliament, had previously agreed to pleas from the industry to maintain the traditional public entertainment licence exclusion for travelling companies. But when responsibility for the parliamentary bill was transferred to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, it omitted to ensure the necessary alterations to the bill were made.

Forbes added: “Our strategy now is to prepare for the licensing act and to demystify if. We are also trying to encourage local authorities to license their own public spaces so that circuses and travelling companies will only need permission to come and perform there and thus encourage more arts events to happen.”

Published last week to coincide with the introduction of the Licensing Act 2005, the first draft of the Simple Guide for Street Arts and Circus Promoters will be revised and updated over the coming nine months and a definitive version will be published when the act becomes enforceable in November 2005.