Clause 98 - Temporary event notice
Licensing Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Dr Kim Howells (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Pontypridd, Labour)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for enabling me to short-circuit the debate. I have had lengthy meetings with representatives of all the large morris, folk song and dance groups, including wassailers, storytellers and mummers. I took them through the Bill and they were much happier at the end of it than they were when we began. They were worried that they would suddenly have to apply for licences for performances that take place in public on the side of roads and so on. Such activities are not licensable. They will not be affected.
The hon. Gentleman was right to refer to the problem of when such performances take place as advertised events inside licensed premises. The representatives were worried about that and thought that they would suddenly have to find a lot of money to pay the landlords. They said that they might perform in 16 or 20 different venues on one of their special days. I asked them if such events were like Cowes week, for example, which was well known and had taken place for many years with a lot of advanced notice. It was pointed out to me that that rarely happens, although there are days in the year when morris dancers are known to perform at certain places. It is often a spontaneous performance and one that happens in different places at different times. As such, they would not be required to have a licence.
The hon. Gentleman is worried about the possibility that the dancers would not be allowed to perform outside ancient pubs or places where they may have performed previously. My hon. Friend the Member for Battersea (Martin Linton) has a famous pub in his constituency, which has a long history of performing arts. It is called The Latchmere and is in Battersea Park road. If a morris troupe performed outside The Latchmere, I think that the police and the highways authorities would have an enormous amount to say about it—it also happens to be on a busy road junction.
Clearly, there will be occasions when it is appropriate for a spontaneous dance or performance to take place, or a tale to be told. On other occasions, it will not be, because it is an event that will have to be
properly notified to the authorities as the pavements may become blocked or there may be traffic problems. We must maintain flexibility. I envisage that in the majority of cases licences will not be required, but that occasionally permission will have to be sought and the licensing authority will have to be informed, as will the police, when an event is likely to encroach on a public highway or pavement and become a serious obstruction.