Live Music Bill [HL]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, for his introduction of the Bill. He has comprehensively covered all the aspects of this issue, which is important for tens of thousands of musicians, many of them young, who under current legislation find it increasingly difficult to find venues in which to practice and perform their art. It is also important for owners and managers of restaurants, club, cafes, pubs—anywhere that puts on live music. I declare one or two interests. I am co-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group; I am a member of the Performance Alliance, a parliamentary group; I am a semi-professional trumpet player of limited ability who occasionally comes out of retirement to perform; I am a founder-director of Jazz FM; I am a patron of a new appeal by the National Youth Jazz Orchestra; I am a member of the Musicians’ Union; and I have played in pubs on many occasions. The House has heard that Section 177 of the Licensing Act was a last-minute compromise at a very late stage of the passage of the Bill in July 2003. The Bill had ping-ponged between the two Houses on the issue of an exemption for small gigs, which failed when the Liberal Democrats withdrew support when DCMS offered Section 177 and an exemption for Morris dancing. The Section 177 amendment was intended to protect certain forms of live music in small premises, thereby encouraging musicians and providing venues to play and practise in. The whole process exposed the Act’s absurd overregulation of the most innocuous live music against the light touch for canned entertainment such as big screen sport and recorded music in bars. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, has explained the exemption known as the "two in a bar" rule, which had been available since 1961 as an exemption from the general requirement to hold a public entertainment licence for live music. This restrictive legislation had serious implications for musicians who were prevented from performing and learning to play to a live audience. Present regulation prevents musicians from entry-point opportunities into the music industry. Four out of 10 of 2009’s biggest-selling artists were British, and they all started out by playing gigs in pubs. Section 177 has proved to be a complex, unworkable provision introduced in the late stages of the debate. There was no exemption from holding the required licence, and the Government considered that such exemptions were not necessary to protect live music, but were forced to compromise in this House to secure passage of the Bill. On this side of the House my noble friend Lady Buscombe and I tried to convince the noble Lord, Lord McIntosh, that the Government had got this wrong, and I think we have been shown to be correct. This new Bill, which creates an outright exemption for certain small gigs and extends the exemption to other premises such as hospitals, schools and colleges, goes a long way to meet the demands of the Musicians’ Union, the former Live Music Forum and the tens of thousands of musicians and music lovers involved with this debate over many years. On Wednesday, I received a briefing from Greg Taylor of the Local Government Association, informing me that the LGA does not support this Bill. It believes that it would restrict the rights of local people and their directly elected councils, and deny them a voice in the licensing process. There is a concern from licensing officers that small venues hosting music would lead to a surge in noise complaints, but there is no solid evidence to support this. If the public need protection from small gigs, there is a plethora of legislation already in place to address the risks of noise, nuisance, crime, disorder and public safety. How else could big screen sport in bars escape entertainment licensing? In May 2009, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee considered the Act’s impact on live music and concluded that, ""while the upper and middle end of the live music scene is still flourishing, live music in smaller venues is in fact decreasing"." It recommended that, ""the Government should exempt venues with a capacity of 200 persons or fewer from the need to obtain a licence for the performance of live music. We further recommend the reintroduction of the "two-in-a-bar" exemption enabling venues of any size to put on a performance of non-amplified music by one or two musicians without the need for a licence. We believe that these two exemptions would encourage the performance of live music without impacting negatively on any of the four licensing objectives under the Act"." The Government rejected both recommendations, arguing that there is no direct correlation between audience size or performer numbers and the potential for noise nuisance or disorder. The present rules are draconian. Pubs need to apply for a live music authorisation in addition to their premises licence, at a cost of £89. Alternatively, a one-off temporary event notice costs £21, but councils enforce an annual limit of 12 notices a year. The maximum penalty for an unlicensed provision is a £20,000 fine and six months in prison. The introduction of a minor variations procedure in June 2009 was useless. It allowed small changes to licences to be fast tracked for the £89 fee, on the condition that they advertise proposed changes to local residents. This proved time-consuming and difficult, and has not yet been used. This Bill’s exemptions are more workable; they simplify the law by getting rid of excess rather than adding to it. On 22 October, the Licensing Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe, said that the, ""Government wants to act very quickly"," to introduce a new small gigs exemption. He also suggested that his 100-capacity exemption proposal was open to negotiation. That statement coincided with an Equity and Musicians’ Union demonstration outside Parliament. During the later Westminster Hall debate, John Whittingdale and other MPs were damning in their criticism of the Act’s live music provisions. Mr Sutcliffe struck a conciliatory note, saying: ""I do not support local government being aggressive by putting preventions in place to stop live music. We must strike the right balance".—[Official Report, Commons, 22/10/09; col. 343WH.]" He had also said: ""Significantly, today’s statistics show that there has been an 11 per cent. increase in premises licences with live music authorisation between 2007 and 2009".—[Official Report, Commons, 22/10/09; col. 341WH.]" Sadly, those statistics are almost meaningless. They do not measure actual live music provision, and a paper permission for live music does not necessarily mean that having live music is legal. Unless local authority licence conditions are implemented by the licensee, such as fitting a noise limiter or providing door supervisors, putting on a live gig would remain a potential criminal offence. On 31 December 2009, the public consultation on an entertainment licensing exemption for small gigs was announced by DCMS, more than two years after it was first promised. The key proposal is to exempt gigs with an audience of up to 100, provided that performances are within buildings and do not take place between 11 pm and 8 am. The exemption may be revoked if there are complaints. It is likely that the DCMS amendment to implement this proposal is flawed as it fails to address the licensing of "entertainment facilities". Under the 2003 Act, the provision of entertainment facilities is separately licensable, irrespective of any actual performance of live music. This covers, for example, the provision of musical instruments, amplification or even a stage. Any new exemption has to ensure that such provision is also exempt. During the licensing debate in the other place, Gerry Sutcliffe said: ""For facilities to be separately licensable in such situations would be absurd and was not intended under the 2003 Act. As part of the clarification, the consultation will propose a change to the definition of ‘entertainment facilities’ so that the mere provision of musical instruments, such as a pub piano, is not licensable".—[Official Report, Commons, 22/10/09; col. 341WH.]" It is hard to believe that the omission of this vital clarification within the published consultation was an oversight by DCMS lawyers and the licensing team, particularly given the long time they have had to come up with a solution. Equity, the Musicians’ Union and UK Live Music support an exemption for audiences or venues up to a capacity of 200. The Minister has suggested that the Government would consider expanding the exemption if that was the response of an overwhelming majority. On this side of the House, we believe that these exemptions will restore the original objectives of the Act. The exemptions will simplify the licensing process and offer a valuable concession to pubs, charitable fundraising and creative industries. The Bill's amendments consider that an adequate risk assessment and the removal of these bureaucratic features will not threaten the achievement of the 2003 Act's objective to prevent public nuisance, crime and disorder. Removal of pre-emptive legislation still allows local people the right to object to noise and disorder via local councils. I welcome the Bill.