§ Baroness Anelay of St Johnsasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the average cost of making an application for a public entertainment licence as borne by (a) the licensee; (b) the police; (c) the courts; and (d) the local authority. [HL1842]
§ Baroness BlackstoneThere are no costs falling on local authorities, the police and the fire authorities, as public entertainment licensing fees allow the local authority concerned to recover the costs of administration, inspection and enforcement associated with the licensing regime. The magistrates' courts and the Court of Appeal become involved in public entertainment licensing only if a decision of the192WA licensing authority is appealed, and the courts have the discretion to recover their costs if appropriate.
Existing legislation does not provide for any single fee structure. Public entertainment licence fees are set by local authorities and vary enormously. Generally, most fees vary between £40 and £20,000, depending on the venue or scale of the event. There are some higher exceptions. For example, rarer large-scale events involving an audience of more than 5,000 can incur fees between £25,000 and £50,000. For permanent premises, renewal is required annually. The main cost falling on the licensee are the fee, the cost of legal representation, if needed, and the indirect costs of meeting the terms, conditions or restrictions attached to a licence. We estimate that the fee and legal costs to a licensee running permanent premises commonly range between £200 and £25,000 per year. However, no information is available centrally on the indirect costs to licensees of compliance with the terms, conditions and restrictions which may be attached to any licence.