Gov will consider live music exemptions
The Government would consider extending licence exemptions for staging live music to venues with a capacity up to 200 if there was "overwhelming" support for the move.
The Government is to release a 12-week consultation proposing exemptions for certain venues. Licensing Minister Sutcliffe told a debate in Westminster this afternoon: "Clearly, if the consultation overwhelmingly shows 200 [capacity for exemptions] is the figure people are happy with, we will consider that. The suggestion we are putting forward is 100."
He believed it would be "possible" to deliver by next election as it had cross-party support — although John Whittingdale, chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said the chances of this are "slim".
The Government came under fire in the debate for requiring a fresh consultation on the changes, the ninth consultation on the Licensing Act.
Sutcliffe criticised the "aggression" used by some councils to put barriers in place to stop venues staging live music. He highlighted the "inconsistency of approach by police and local authorities in interpreting the Licensing Act".
And the minister "shared the concerns of all the [Culture, Media and Sport Select] Committee" about controversial Form 696, which require some London venues to give explicit details of upcoming promoted events.
Sutcliffe said the forms need to be voluntary - currently several venues require the forms as licence conditions - and should not apply to live music.
He rejected calls from the Conservatives for a national database of personal licence holders, saying: "We don't think there's a strong enough case for committing public money to this."
And he stood by opposition to minimum pricing, despite calls for the move during the lively debate about the Licensing Act.
He said the Government would "be looking closely at what is happening in Scotland", where minimum pricing has been proposed.
Earlier Whittingdale welcomed the "sensible" action taken by the Government to simplify the minor variation process and to allow on-line applications.
But on live music, he said: "I can tell the minister that I have received quite a lot of evidence that there's been damage in the performance of live music [due to the Licensing Act]."
