Councils oppose pub live music plans
A lobby group for councils is opposing plans to reduce regulation around live music — as a new survey shows 91% of town halls don't want the changes.
The Government is to consult on plans to reduce the need for a music licence for venues with fewer than 200 people. The figure could be lower, depending on feedback.
A survey of 213 councils from the Local Government Association (LGA) found 72% oppose the plan and just 8% support it.
In total, 91% believe relaxing the rules would mean more complaints about noise and nuisance.
However, very few predict other negative outcomes. Just 1.4% say it would threaten public safety and 0.9% believe it would increase crime and disorder.
The LGA said further changes to the Licensing Act are "unnecessary", arguing that venues that want live music in the background able to make use of the incidental music exemption. It also said minor variations to licences could be used.
Cllr Chris White, chair of the LGA's Culture, Tourism and Sport board, said: "Being able to go out and enjoy music and other entertainment is all part of having a good quality of life, but so is being able to get a good night's sleep.
"Families should be able to put their children to bed in peace, and be able to relax in their homes without being disturbed by noise from licensed premises.
"The size of an audience is not a good way of judging the likely impact of an event. "There could be considerable noise and disturbance from a heavy metal gig attended by only 20 people at a local pub, while an audience of 250 listening to a jazz band in a remote village hall could create minimal difficulty.
"Bars and pubs are often good neighbours and the majority will want to know people living nearby are not disturbed by their business. Locals are valuable customers, after all.
"Common sense measures to allow pubs and bars to put on live music with a minimum of bureaucracy are already in place and make further amendments pointless.
"Resisting the badly thought out plans for new exemption rules are not about automatically saying 'no' to live music. Councils want to be able to say 'yes', confident that local people have been considered as part of the process."
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport has yet to release the consultation.
