Live Music Bill [HL]
Debate between Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Skelmersdale
Lord Clement-Jones
My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment 2. From the outset, in dealing with all these amendments, I want to assure your Lordships that with the exception of the third group, all the amendments are of a technical and drafting nature. The essence of the Bill—to deregulate the performance of live music and to provide for safeguards on a subsequent review if problems are created by the performance of live music—remains fully intact. I shall therefore be as brief as possible, but consistent with the need to explain the technical nature of some of the amendments. I want to acknowledge not only the assistance of my advisers in improving the Bill but that of DCMS officials who have been particularly helpful in helping me to draw up these amendments.
Section 177 of the Licensing Act 2003 at present relates to live music and dancing in small premises. However, the purpose of the Bill, as stated in the Long Title, is to deal only with live music. In fact, a later government consultation on, I hope, other aspects of entertainment is coming down the track. These amendments ensure that dancing is neither positively nor negatively affected by the changes that the Bill makes. To do this, Amendment 1 amends existing Section 177 so that it deals only with dancing. Amendment 2 creates a new Section 177A for live music. I suppose that we can now say that the Bill is not all-singing and all-dancing. Obviously, I hope that in due course the Government will, through their entertainment consultation later this year, say what can be done to deregulate dancing in small venues. I beg to move.
Lord Skelmersdale
I am not sure whether anyone else among your Lordships is as confused as I am. Although I well understand that,
“dancing and live music in certain small premises”,
is a very wide term, the words in the Bill and in Amendment 1 seem to be so restrictive that they would not include singing, which I would have thought was certainly a part of live music.
Lord Clement-Jones
I thank the noble Lord, Lord Skelmersdale, for that intervention. I can certainly say that singing is covered as part of entertainment in the circumstances. There is no question about that. Through the amendments, one is simply restricting the Bill from impacting on the dancing aspects of licensing.