· The LGA Group is opposed to the introduction of de minimis exemptions for live music, however. Audience size alone is not a viable means of determining whether or not a particular performance of live music will contravene one of the licensing act objectives1.

Size would appear to matter when the LGA Group wish it to matter but would not appear to matter when they do not wish it to matter.

This objection would equally apply to the incidental exemption or indeed most if not all of the Act's many other exemptions, which may also not be a viable means of determining whether or not a articular performance of live music will contravene one of the licensing act objectives.

However laudable the LGA Group's intention may be, to ensure that the licensing objectives are not contravened in advance, common sense should tell us that this is not always possible and that the attempt to address every potential problem comes at a cost that not everyone is prepared to pay. To treat every activity in advance as if it is presenting a potential risk to the licensing objectives is to place at equal risk many activities that do not.

Planning legislation deals with averting potential problems and there is no need for expensive duplication of this for the provision of live music.

It is not as if the concept of a de minimis exemption is new and the world did not end for all the years that the two-in-a-bar rule was in place in our pubs. This suggest that the LGA Group's opposition here is not based on any real concern for the public's well-being. Perhaps the LGA Group should consult those they represent before announcing any opposition to a re-introduction of a de minimis exemption. This stance alone is enough to alarm the public and as it is not a stance based on evidence, it is not one the LGA Group as responsible body should be expressing