Local councils under attack for exploiting PELs

Local councils have come under fire again for using Public Entertainment Licence (PEL) fees to boost their budgets.

The head of the Campaign for Live Music, Hamish Birchall, attacked the PEL system for allowing local authorities to shut down "scores of live music events where there are no noise concerns or public safety issues".

Mr Birchall, who is working with members of the pub trade in the fight for the abolition of the law, said rather than ensuring safety for pub customers the PEL system only served as a means of revenue for councils.

He also attacked councils for not promoting entertainment. "Considering the relaxed and good-humoured atmosphere that is associated with this kind of entertainment, one might think that local authorities would want to encourage it as much as possible," he said.

This follows news last month that the licensee of the Fleece pub in Southwark, London, Sean Toye, had successfully appealed against a decision to prosecute him for running a karaoke night (See Trade campaigns to update PEL system (June 21, 2001) for more details).

Initially, he was prosecuted by the local council for not having a PEL because the council said that more than two people had performed in one night. However, he won the appeal because he said that no more than two people performed at the same time, which he said was the proper definition of the law.

The law covering karaoke nights remains a grey area, with most local authorities demanding PELs for any karaoke event.