The Department for Culture, Media and Sport sent a letter to Weymouth council on 4 Feb clarifying the aims of the proposed licensing reform.

The answers to the three questions you raised are shown below:

1. It is not planned that the new system will give an exemption to any forms of entertainment. The proposal is that all activities to be held on a Premises Licence (including non-amplified music) would need to be revealed in the operating plan put for approval to the licensing authority. The authority could only impose conditions on the Premises Licence which protect public safety and prevent disorder, crime and public nuisance.

2. We are committed to introducing a Bill on this matter as soon as Parliamentary time permits. We are hopeful of getting a slot for the Bill in the 2002-2003 legislative programme.

3. Under the new scheme there would be no place for the "two in a bar rule".

So, the general rule would be none-in-the-bar. The present legislation says its purpose relates only to safety and noise. But that hasn't stopped local authorities applying excessive, inconsistent and costly conditions for bands. Having talked with some officers of his local council on the subject last January, Steve Rubie, proprietor of the 606 Jazz Club warned the Musicians Union that:

"... each licensee will be required to make the choice, at the point of application, as to whether or not they want to add Entertainment to their licence application. Should they decide not to, for whatever reason, then that premises will not be licensed for music of any kind. In other words, the '2 in the bar' rule will be gone, but if the applicants, who may have had duos for possibly years, do not fully appreciate the situation and just assume that they still don't need a licence for duos, and so fail to apply for one, then they will lose the ability to put on live music altogether.

"It is also quite possible that a number of venues that have put on live music in the past may be required to make so many changes under the new regulations that it's not worth their while, and will subsequently stop the provision of live music. The biggest problem, it seems to me though, is that licensees really need to be educated to the fact that even if they only want to put on music once a year, say New Year's Eve, then they must still add 'Entertainment' to their licence at the point of application otherwise it will not be possible'.

"... it could be a great boost to the promotion of live music if handled properly, but it does seem to me that if not it could actually backfire and lead to fewer, rather than more, venues promoting live music."

Is this the best way forward?
Will it cost more for the 'premises licence' to host live music?
Why can't there be a presumption in favour of incidental live music in bars and pubs, unless the council can demonstrate convincingly that this is just not feasible in a particular premises?

Why can't we adopt the Scottish licensing regime?
Most bars there can provide live bands during permitted hours with no additional fees or conditions - and the same safety and noise legislation applies in Scotland as in England and Wales.

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