Live music in pubs 'suffering' under Act

Licensing reform has not helped live music in pubs because it makes it easier for residents to interfere.

That is the message from the licensee at one pub that has been forced to drop live music since the Licensing

Act went live. It comes as the Government launches a survey into the Act's impact on live music at pubs.

Frustrated host Tom Taylor contacted the MA in response to news of the survey.

Union Pub Company tenant Taylor was ordered by his council to stop hosting live music at the Trident in Burtonwood, Cheshire, after three residents made a representation against his licence.

He was also ordered to stop regular discos and told he could host just six DJ sets per year.

Taylor said takings on Friday and Saturday nights have slumped from around £1,200 to as little as £200 since the restrictions came in.

He is considering leaving the pub in the New Year if things don't improve. "It just takes one person to complain and they can stop you," said Taylor. "It's ridiculous."

The survey by the Department for Culture,

Media & Sport (DCMS) will see pollsters Mori contacting

2,000 pubs and other small music venues.

Venues will be asked how they coped with the licensing application process and how life has changed now public entertainment licences and the two-in-a-bar rule have gone. They will also be asked if they use Temporary

Events Notices (TENs) to stage live music.

The survey is part of the DCMS' Live Music Forum, and findings will be included in the Forum's final report later this year.

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