Thanks Larry
This appears to be the current standard reply?
I trust that you are now completely satisfied that Weymouth and Portland is such a wonderful place?
First off the number of pubs with PELs has risen somewhat. The figure supplied in March 2000 was only 71. They may have been busy 'encouraging' since then but it is worth a challenge. It would be nice to know the exact number. It would be nice to know the percentage too as this seems a large amount, compared with only 5% nationally? Why is that I wonder?
I do not understand the stuff about cost. Why should one have to pay anything to provide your own music? Who are you paying and for what? The cost of the licence is paid by the licensee anyway.
Of course it is only a mere musician who is objecting to having an entertainment licence.
Some suggested questions for Mr Gilmore.
1 Is it true that the licensee maintained for three months that the session did not require a PEL?
2 Is it true that the licensee has recently written to The Licensing Manager to point out that he only applied for the licence under duress on 01/02/01, as this was the only way the council would permit the session to continue?
3 Is it true that on the 15th December 2000 the council's legal section sent a letter to the licensee warning that if the session continued without a PEL, this would result in prosecution. With the possibility of a £20,000 fine or a six month prison sentence?
4 Is it true that the council considers that more than two members of the public singing together are performers and illegal in a pub without a PEL?
5 Is it true that the council are aware of that current legislation does not force them to do this? As is made clear in the following quote from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Home Office (Lord Bassam of Brighton), replying on behalf of HM Government to a question from The Lord Bishop of Oxford, in The House of Lords Entertainment Legislation Debate Monday 11 December 2000. "Whether members of the public who sing on licensed premises count as performers is a matter for the licensing authority to decide, depending on the circumstances"
There is more but that is enough for now…. He does not mention a folk festival next year?