Child In entertainment licence

[BringBackTheLight]

Has anyone filled one it?

My son is a performer. He is 16 and in year 11. He has a hobby/career pathway that means he occasionally misses school. School have been supportive of this and have authorised is absences but have contacted our local council who have said he needs a licence. This is fair enough, no issue.
However when I try to fill it in it asks about specific times and dates the licence is needed for. He doesn't have regular times or dates, he performs when the opportunity arises. Many of these are out of school time.

So the question I'm asking is do I need to fill in a new licence each time he performs?
Some months this can be 10 times, others nil.

I've tried asking school but they don't seem to know as they haven't experienced this before and the licensing office at the council are not at all helpful.

Appreciate any input from anyone who has any experience of these.

Child licenses are normally issued for specific jobs in our experience so yes, a separate license is needed for each role/job. Does the company not employing them insist on a licence? This is quite unusual and possibly a bit concerning depending on the circumstances.

for "amateur" performances eg. a local stage school show, dance show etc, they can normally perform without a licence unless they have done a certain amount of licenced hours already in the year which means they will need a licence for that show. Can't remember offhand the amount of hours.

the good news is that he will be out of licence on the last Friday if June this year so you don't have to worry about it for much longer!

Sorry - should say "Does the company employing him not insist on a licence?"

My 12 year old son has been appearing in the pantomime in our city. The theatre sent us the form to apply for the licence. The terms of the licence are strict to ensure that the young person isn't missing too much education, isn't working long hours, and also to ensure that they are adequately chaperoned (chaperones have their own licencing process). This is why they are asking for specific dates and times. I have had to get a fresh licence for each production my son has been in.

Is your child performing with adults?

Each performance would require a licence requested by whoever is running it. If that is not happening they are breeching child employment legislation and potentially putting him at risk of exploitation. Does he get a tutor and/or chaperone each time? Are the working times strictly monitored with rest breaks?

Ok more info.
There is no organisation running thing as such, he's a musician in a rock band, they gig. Each gig is obviously in a different venue. Each venue has its own safeguarding policy which we adhere to.
I could put the band as the organisation?
He is accompanied by a parent each time.
Performances are generally in the evening, he only misses school if travel necessitates it.
The performance itself is only usually 45 mins to 1 hour but he sets up and sound checks. He gets an appropriate break in between.
There is not payment specifically for him, the venue often pays but this is a small amount to cover petrol + expenses for the whole band, not an individual wage.

I think the fact it is in a commercial venue is the reason he would need to be licenced in this case. And the fact there is payment of some kind - although the rules are vague on expenses. I am far from an expert but do know a bit. Normally it would be the promoter who would oversee the licence in these circumstances although it would still be you who applied.

This would not be the official advice at all but if it was me I might be minded to only apply for a licence when he was actually missing school. And, as I say, you only need to worry about this until the last Friday in June this year as he will be "out of licence" then.

Yes, the licence is for each individual performance. Some councils used to issue blanket licences but most stopped doing that about 10-15 years ago.

The rock band bit is more unusual. Most theatre companies etc are very au fait with the requirements but most music venues probably don't even realise they exist. My son was in a band but only in college. I did, however, apply for many licences for theatre performances for both my kids and I used to be a licence chaperone.

The having to miss school thing is probably why the issue has come up. The one thing I will say you need to be careful of is that there used to be stipulations about performing on licensed premises, not sure if they still apply as my licence expired about 7 years ago so I havn't kept up to date since then. Also you need to give 21 days notice which isn't necessarily how the music industry works.

Edit to say that in theatre licences are only needed if school is being missed or the child has performed more than 4 days in 6 months but licences are always needed for performing on licensed premises such as pub/club.

Thanks for the advice.
It is annoying that school have only now told me about this licence, we knew nothing about it
I know most of the music venues that play at are 14+ for audience so although licenced premises I'm assuming they're covered.

@CleverMcClogsofClogTown that was my thinking too about only applying if he misses school, they've been aware for around a year and now just as he's getting ready to leave have thrown this one up!

I'm really hoping we don't have to do a years worth retrospectively!

It's not about what age the pub is licensed for audiences, it is about the child working on a licensed premises.

The exact wording is

The Children and Young Persons Act 1963 (Section 37) Restriction on persons under 16 taking part in public performances.
This includes children who have attained age 16 during the academic year i.e. are still of compulsory school age.

(1) This subsection means that children of compulsory school age and below cannot take part in a performance , paid sport or work as a model when they are being paid (other than out of pocket expenses) without a performance licence. The licence is to be issued by the local authority where the child resides. If the child does not reside in Great Britain then the licence should be issued by the local authority where the licence applicant resides or has his place of business.

(2) This subsection states the types of performances which require a licence. This includes:
(a) any performance in connection with which a charge is made (whether for admission or otherwise);
(b) any performance in licenced premises within the meaning of the Licensing Act [1964] or the Licensing (Scotland) Act 1959 or in premises in respect of which a club is registered under said Act of 1959 or the Licensing Act [1964];
(c) any broadcasting performance;
(d) any performance not falling within paragraph (c) above but included in a programme service (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1990);
(e) any performance recorded (by whatever means) with a view to its use in a broadcast or such service or in a film intended for public exhibition;

Most schools know very little about child licensing. I have had to educate several on the rules over the years.

The good news is though that the school is not able to refuse permission for time off school without a valid reason & the licence over-rides any decision of the school

Lots of useful info here https://www.nncee.org.uk/page/485/what-is-child-performance

You should not assume anything! This is your responsibility to check. If he is missing school he should have a licence and his time is regulated including rehearsal, sound check and performance. There are also defined latest finish times (10/10:30 iirc)You can contact your LA Child Employment team to clarify the rules and paperwork but unlikely you need to backdate.

Yes you do need them for each performance. But you won’t need to do retrospective ones.

I’d call your local authority and have a chat to the administrator. They normally request 21 days notice but it would very unusual to have that much notice for a lot of performances. My dd had licences in the past but her agents sorted them. I assumed they were good at sweet talking the council to hurry them through and some times it could be the day before. I think someone did turn up to shoot once to check on licences so it does happen.