The Live Music Forum
Hamish Birchall Bulletins
Sent Saturday 25th June 2005
Subject: Court Victory For Pub Trade
The outcome of a judicial review of the new Licensing Act could have important
implications for live music in bars and restaurants.
The review was initiated in April by the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA),
the British Institute of Innkeepers (BII) and the Association of Licensed Multiple
Retailers (ALMR). They are challenging key elements of Canterbury City Council's
licensing policy. A judgment is expected in the next two weeks, although it
could in theory be delayed until 29 July.
It is believed that the council's position is that it is entitled to require
certain conditions on licences which reflect provisions in existing legislation,
such as capacity limits. This is disputed by the BBPA, BII and ALMR. They argue
that Canterbury's policy exceeds the requirements of the Act in that such conditions
unlawfully duplicate provision under separate legislation, such as health and
safety legislation. The Statutory Guidance that accompanies the Act explicitly
warns against this.
If the judicial review goes in favour of the licensed trade, this could force
all local authorities to rethink their licensing policy.
Paradoxically, it might also lead to a fairer and more consistent application
of health and safety legislation. Just like the Act it replaces, the Licensing
Act 2003 makes arbitrary distinctions between entertainment that requires licensing
(live music as a featured entertainment, for example) and entertainment that
is exempt (such as big screen sport broadcasts). Both entertainments may present
safety risks. But, if local authorities continue to rely heavily on licensing
as the means to implement safety legislation clearly this favours exempt entertainments,
even where these present greater safety risks than live music.
See the recent coverage in The Publican:
http://www.thepublican.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=17622&d=11&h=24&f=23&dateformat=%25o-%25B-%25Y
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