Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe yesterday told parliament that he planned to exempt venues with a capacity of under 100 from the live music licensing obligations introduced by the 2003 Licensing Act.
The move was announced in a parliamentary debate of the Culture, Media & Sport select committee's recent review of the 2003 legislation, which sided with live music types in their conclusion that the new rules had had a negative impact on grass roots music venues, in particular pubs who stage small live music performances. Sutcliffe said that, providing the exemption proposal had cross party support, he'd rush it through parliament. That said, a consultation will now be held to assess parliamentary views on the matter, which some fear could mean nothing is done before the next General Election.
Actors union Equity and the Musicians' Union staged a demonstration outside parliament ahead of the debate, though their efforts were somewhat overshadowed as far as media coverage was concerned by that other demo being staged at the same time right outside the BBC HQ. Nevertheless, they will have been pleased with Sutcliffe's announcement regarding the so called "two-in-a-bar" rule.
That said, the chair of the select committee, John Whittingdale, probably summarised the live music community's general view on the government's response to the 2003 act when he said the 100-capacity exemption was a "late and fairly small" concession. Other recommendations by Whittingdale's committee, such as the abolition of the 696 form, have been rejected by government.
Given concerns no changes may now get through before the next General Election, Tory arts man Ed Vaizey said his party would instigate its own strategic review of entertainment licensing if it took power. Which presumably would mean more reviews, chatter and consultation before anything was done.