Live Music Bill wins Royal Assent
The Live Music Bill received Royal Assent this week and has been hailed as the “first truly deregulatory Act affecting licensing since 2003”.
The Live Music Act provides that small venues with a capacity of up to 200 people will not need a licence to host live amplified music between 8 am and 11 pm.
The legislation is not expected to come into force until October 2012.
Andy Grimsey, a solicitor at law firm Poppleston Allen who was involved in the co-drafting of the legislation, said this timescale would allow for statutory guidance to be amended and for police and local authorities to prepare.
He said: “This is the first truly deregulatory Act affecting licensing since 2003. True, there have been limited attempts by Government to lessen the more onerous aspects of the Licensing Act 2003 - the minor variations procedure springs to mind - but the rest of the legislative traffic has very firmly been going the other way.”
Grimsey said he hoped the legislation would see “a renaissance in live music in pubs, bars, cafés and work places, but which equally provides important protections for local residents”.
