The General Manager of the Association Of Independent Festivals has issued a statement raising concern regarding the previously reported Police Reform & Social Responsibility Bill which is currently being considered in the House Of Lords.

As previously reported, one section of the Bill proposes giving local authorities more powers over the licensing of large scale music events, a development which many fear will further complicate the process of getting permission to stage festivals. Ironically the Police Reform Bill is being considered at the same time as the Live Music Bill, which is aiming to simplify the licensing process, especially for grass root events.

With the licensing section of the Police Reform Bill due to be considered in the Lords this week, AIF General Manager Claire O’Neill told reporters: “We are incredibly concerned that changes to the bill will be passed with a ‘one size fits all’ approach that could be a further blow to UK festivals and music events. Festivals are one of the few places that people come together to celebrate and enjoy life in a relatively incident free environment, certainly compared with town centres on a Friday night. We urge the House of Commons Committee to reconsider those aspects of the Bill that will be detrimental to this positive social and cultural phenomenon”.

While the Live Music Bill works its way through parliament, aiming to remove elements of licensing law that have caused unnecessary problems for the live music sector, especially at the grass roots, some in the live industry fear that a new bit of legislation will introduce a new set of problems, especially for festival organisers.

The Police Reform & Social Responsibility Bill, which is at committee stage in the House Of Lords, includes proposals that would give more people within a local area the right to object to temporary event licences being issued, plus make it easier for local authorities to impose conditions on organisers of such events.

Noting the contradictions between the Live Music Bill and the licensing elements of the Police Reform Bill, live music campaigner Hamish Birchall told Music Week: “If the Police Reform & Social Responsibility Bill does pass into law it could result in the bizarre situation where the government is trying to deregulate on the one hand, while at the same time local authorities will be entangling live music in more red tape: things are going to get worse before they get better”.

Representatives from the live and festival sector, supported by the likes of Liberal Lord Tim Clement-Jones, hope to raise these concerns when the Police Reform Bill is next discussed in the Lords later this month.