Deregulation of regulated entertainments

Live Music Act 2012 and Licensing Act 2003 (descriptions of entertainment) (Amendment) Order 2013 - changes to the classification of entertainment under the Licensing Act 2003

As a result of deregulatory changes that have amended the 2003 Act, no licence is now required for the following activities:

Plays: no licence is required for performances between 8am and 11pm on any day, provided that the audience does not exceed 500.

Dance: no licence is required for performances between 8am and 11pm on any day, provided that the audience does not exceed 500.

Films: no licence is required for 'not-for-profit' film exhibition held in community premises between 8am and 11pm on any day provided that the audience does not exceed 500 and the organiser:

• gets consent to the screening from a person who is responsible for the premises; and
• ensures that each such screening abides by age classification ratings.

Indoor sporting events: no licence is required for an event between 8am and 11pm on any day, provided that those present do not exceed 1,000.

Boxing or wrestling entertainment: no licence is required for a contest, exhibition or display of Greco-Roman wrestling, or freestyle wrestling between 8am and 11pm on any day, provided that the audience does not exceed 1,000.

Live music: no licence permission is required for:

• a performance of unamplified live music between 8am and 11pm on any day, on any premises.
• a performance of amplified live music between 8am and 11pm on any day on premises authorised to sell alcohol for consumption on those premises, provided that the audience does not exceed 500.
• a performance of amplified live music between 8am and 11pm on any day, in a workplace that does not have a licence, provided that the audience does not exceed 500.
• a performance of amplified live music between 8am and 11pm on any day, in a church hall, village hall, community hall, or other similar community premises, that is not licensed by a premises licence to sell alcohol, provided that:
  • the audience does not exceed 500, and
  • the organiser gets consent for the performance from a person who is responsible for the premises
• a performance of amplified live music between 8am and 11pm on any day, at the non-residential premises of:
  • a local authority, or
  • a school, or
  • a hospital, provided that:
    • the audience does not exceed 500, and
    • the organiser gets consent for the performance on the relevant premises from:
      • the local authority concerned, or
      • the school or
      • the health care provider for the hospital

Recorded Music: no licence permission is required for:

• any playing of recorded music between 8am and 11pm on any day on premises authorised to sell alcohol for consumption on those premises, provided that the audience does not exceed 500.
• any playing of recorded music between 8am and 11pm on any day, in a church hall, village hall, community hall, or other similar community premises, that is not licensed by a premises licence to sell alcohol, provided that:
  • the audience does not exceed 500, and
  • the organiser gets consent for the performance from a person who is responsible for the premises.
• any playing of recorded music between 8am and 11pm on any day, at the non-residential premises of:
  • a local authority, or
  • a school, or
  • a hospital, provided that:
    • the audience does not exceed 500, and
    • the organiser gets consent for the performance on the relevant premises from:
      • the local authority concerned, or
      • the school proprietor or
      • the health care provider for the hospital

Cross activity exemptions: no licence is required between 8am and 11pm on any day, with no limit on audience size for:

• any entertainment taking place on the premises of the local authority where the entertainment is provided by or on behalf of the local authority;
• any entertainment taking place on the hospital premises of the health care provider where the entertainment is provided by or on behalf of the health care provider;
• any entertainment taking place on the premises of the school where the entertainment is provided by or on behalf of the school proprietor; and
• any entertainment (excluding films and a boxing or wrestling entertainment) taking place at a travelling circus, provided that:
  • it takes place within a moveable structure that accommodates the audience, and
  • that the travelling circus has not been located on the same site for more than 28 consecutive days.

Back to top