Club alternative to PELs
QWe are continuing to have difficulty obtaining a public entertainment licence because of objections. A colleague of mine in the jazz world has told me that he knows of a place that got round the problem by forming a club for the music evenings, with a membership and an entrance fee. Is this an option?
AForming a private club for your jazz evenings may technically get round the present law on public entertainment licensing, but it will be viewed with grave suspicion by your local authority, which will soon take over all responsibilities for entertainments in both pubs and clubs. It is true that under the current law, if the club is truly private and persons are not admitted on the door then a PEL will not be required. The activity will not be covered by the Private Places of Entertainment Licensing Act either, because it forms part of licensed premises, which are exempt.
However, even if you find yourself outside the scope of both these licences, you will still be subject to noise nuisance legislation and could be visited by council officers if there are complaints.
The club would have to be properly constituted (the ABC Jazz Club) with a membership, entrance fee etc. But the main problem is admitting people on the night, which some pubs have found the most difficult. Sometimes, council enforcement officers will present themselves in plain clothes to gain evidence that the event is really public. So you will have to be very careful and your success will be short-lived.
Avoiding PRS charges
QYou mentioned the PRS (Performing Right Society) in your column recently. It has demanded a licence fee covering several kinds of music, which I do not consider accurate, as the last time they reviewed the music in this pub was in 2001. How can they base their charges for 2005 on out-of-date information? Am I within my rights in refusing to pay until they sort this out?
AYou must understand that the PRS licence is not just a charge for music usage it is a copyright licence for permission to use copyright music in public. For this reason it must be charged in advance, just like your liquor licence or any other form of prior permission.
Normally, the PRS works on a tariff for pubs rather than a proportionate amount for music actually played, but the society will amend the charges if it is shown that the charge basis is inaccurate or has changed, for example, where live music evenings have been stopped.
Your only recourse is negotiation, as failure to pay the licence fee while still playing music could end up in legal proceedings. If you can show the PRS that its tariff level is inaccurate, then I am sure it will agree to amend the rate.
Legal measures on cider
QI should like to ask if the regulations on pints and half pints as legal measure apply to any other drink beside beer, such as cider?
AThe answer is a clear, yes. Weights and measures regulations on quantity apply equally to draught cider as they do to draught beer. This means that any form of dispense of cider that is by a free-flow system, including pouring from a flagon or counter-container, requires the drink to be sold to customers in a stamped, capacity measure of the quantity in question. It would be illegal, for example, to dispense cider freehand into a 12oz goblet where a half was requested by the purchaser, unless that goblet was lined and Government stamped at the 10oz mark.
Where bottled cider is requested or supplied, the restrictions do not apply and oversized goblets may be used. But any form of draught dispense requires the same care and attention to measurement as for beer.
