Along with Oxford City and Kensington and Chelsea councils - the following scaremongering letter was sent by Sheffield City Council

Licensing Services
Town Hall SHEFFIELD S1 2HH
Tel 0114 273 4264 Fax 0114 273 5410
E-mail: general.licensing@sheffield.gov.uk

Website www.sheffield.gov.uk

Date 26 October 2011

To All Community Assemblies / Community Groups

Dear Sir/Madam

DCMS Consultation - Proposal to examine the deregulation of Schedule One of the Licensing Act 2003

The Department of Culture Media and Sport DCMS are seeking views on the above proposal to remove licensing requirements for most of the activities currently defined as 'regulated entertainment' under the Licensing Act 2003.

For your information 'regulated entertainment' covers some of the most problematic activities for local communities, such as;
A performance of a play
An exhibition of a film
An indoor sporting event
A boxing or wrestling event (either indoors or outdoors)
A performance of live music
Any playing of recorded music, and
A performance of dance

As well as the provision of facilities that enable members of the public to make music or dance.

Although we agree that for some small scale or low risk events , such as the exhibition of dance by pupils at a school fete or pianists in restaurants you do not need such stringent regulation. However, we feel this is best dealt with by amending the Licensing Act to give Licensing Authorities more flexibility when dealing with these types of events. We do not believe that a blanket removal of licensing requirements is appropriate for any type of event.

As the Licensing Authority in Sheffield, we are extremely concerned about these proposals and the potential impact they could have from a health and safety, public nuisance and anti-social behaviour point of view. It would allow premises to have live music, DJs etc. without the need for a licence and therefore without any controls. We are seriously concerned how this would impact on local communities in Sheffield

Such events would be able to continue into the early hours of the morning with hundreds of people in attendance. Problems arising from regulated entertainment are one of the most significant issues we experience and it would only get worse if these proposals we passed.

The full consultation paper can be found on the DCMS website at: http;//www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/8408.aspx

If after reading these proposals, you are also concerned, we would encourage you to respond directly to the DCMS highlighting your concerns. The contact details for the response can be found on the consultation document.

Alternatively, you are welcome to support our response as we will be providing detailed answers to all the questions posed in the consultation document.

The closing date for responses to DCMS is 3rd December 2011'

We would urge you to let the Community Groups in your areas know about this consultation and ensure that their opinions are heard. Should you wish to discuss these proposals in further details with us, please contact us and we will endeavour to attend any public meetings prior to submitting our response or assist you in submitting a response.

Yours faithfully
Steve Lonnia
Chief Licensing Officer