I suggest that it might be desirable to try to restate the important issues surrounding the Licencing Act and the Guidance.

The current legal position is that all premises selling alcohol must have a licence.

The current legal position is that all premises hosting entertainment must have a totally separate PEL with the exception of pubs which have two musicians in a bar. The actual meaning of this latter rule is not well defined but might be as tight as only two in a particular premises on a particular day.

There are then other matters that have no relevance to folk music as such.

PEL's cost different amounts in different local authorities and sometimes the LA either makes a very high charge for a PEL or uses a PEL as a second bite at the planning cherry and forcing expensive alterations to premises.   As a consequence, there is believed to be widespread avoidance by restricting entertainment to members of a club. There is also believed to be widespread evasion where organisations operate without a PEL.

The Act combines these two licences into one at a nationally fixed fee and explicitly prevents any conditions that could have been made as planning requirements. It also makes some exclusions regarding what entertainment needs to be licensed.

Apart from the fact that the fee is not yet published, the major concerns therefore are that evasion of entertainment licencing law will be much more difficult and the fear that landlords who now evade the PEL will make a deliberate action to prevent entertainment in their premise by excluding it in their licence even when it will cost them nothing directly.

What might be more significant, although little commented on, is the fact that it is very likely that many new premises licenses will be held by the Brewery, whereas the current license is held by the landlord. There has been much ill-informed comment by some brewers and there is a very real danger that they will fail to include entertainment in the applications whatever the landlord's wishes/inclinations. There needs to be much pressure on brewers to support entertainment in pubs!!

Richard