MP Whittingdale urges government to Listen Up!

The government ignored all the Culture Committee's recommendations on licensing around live music. Are you satisfied with the reasons given?

No, not in the least. I think there is now evidence there has been a loss of venues and live music opportunities since the Act and as such there is a very strong case for the government to look at it again. I do not understand why the government is of the view that live music performance requires a licence on top of the existing requirements.

Why do you think the two-in-a-bar rule was ditched in the original Act?

I actually fought the government on the abolition of the two-in-a-bar rule as shadow Culture Secretary when the Licensing Act was being introduced. You can argue exempting two performers, but then three requiring a licence is slightly an anomalous thing. But the way to deal with that should have been to relax the licensing requirements, not to make it tougher. The smaller venues exemption is a more rational requirement, but you are still left with the existing law.
How do you think an exemption below 200 capacity would help?

Clearly it will result in some upturn, how great, who knows? But the pub trade has been having a difficult time for some considerable time, so any additional offering which might bring a few more people through the door has to be a good thing.
Do you still think the Met Police should scrap Form 696?

In our view the form should be abolished, we think there's no need for it at all. There's no doubt it causes great resentment. No other areas do it - it's an invention of the Met Police. Clearly there are more performances in London than anywhere else, but that doesn't mean you should have to have that additional information.
Are you disappointed at the DCMS's attitude towards live music?

The problem is, it depends which bit of the department you talk to. If you talk to whoever has the responsibility for the music industry, their attitude is very positive. But if you go down the corridor to the people in the licensing division, then there whole agenda is different.
What is your experience of councils' attitudes to live music?

Some are worse than others. Obviously if you devolve power to local authorities - they will take different views, which is probably a good thing. But what you do need to try and do is make sure local authorities do not build in additional requirements which go way beyond what was ever intended in the Act.
What are you hoping to achieve with you debate in the House of Commons next month?
It will give an opportunity for a large number of MPs to contribute and the government will have to justify its position. I would rather hope it would provide a chance for the government to have second thoughts. The debate is a way of forcing them to come and explain why they have taken this view. I'd imagine Gerry Sutcliffe will give the government's response.

Whittingdale on The Publican's Listen Up! campaign:

I'm absolutely delighted you're running the campaign Listen Up! campaign. I hope what it will add to the pressure on the government to address the law and to amend it and to try encourage live music performances. That's what the select commmittee's report was all about."

To find out more about Listen Up click here​