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Dateline:
21st June, 2007
Stagecoach Attacks Child Licensing Chaos
Stagecoach Theatre Arts, the national performing arts school franchise,
is leading a campaign in order to persuade Parliament to undertake a
complete overhaul of the entertainment licensing structure for children
appearing on the professional stage, for an introduction of new and
fairer regulations.
In a statement on its website, the company says:
With over 36,000 students all of who at some time may require an
entertainment licence to perform, it has become increasingly apparent
to Stagecoach that the acquisition of the licence is very much at
the discretion and legislative interpretation of the Local Education
Authority in which the child lives.
The blame for this chaotic situation must sit firmly at the door
of Central Government. Local authorities are not issued with practical
guidelines as to how to interpret the regulations. It is left to their
individual legal departments to dictate practice and application,
often resulting in what ‘The Stage’ accurately described
as a ‘Postcode Lottery’ because the outcome of many applications
is governed by where the child lives.
We view the current situation as unfair and unworkable because it
denies many children the opportunity to experience professional performance
simply because it is dependant on the level of competency of their
local education welfare departments as to whether a licence is granted
or not. These decisions are random and diversify from Authority to
Authority. We feel that it would be a neglect of our duties to our
students if we did not attempt to support their ambitions and strengthen
the reality of their opportunities in order to help them reach their
goal.
The child’s welfare remains paramount to our concerns and we
believe that their wellbeing can be better protected under a revised
system. Up to now, people who have no working knowledge of the entertainment
industry or the demands of production deadlines have had a major impact
on the end product should a child be involved. From a business perspective
it affects everyone in the artistic chain and ultimately can make
a very difficult process almost impossible.
Local Authorities see the granting of an entertainment licence as
the end product. We disagree. The child’s working environment
has to provide a safe and positive platform for growth and experience.
Current LEA working practices do not ensure this as spot checks and
venue assessments are rarely if ever carried out thus ignoring the
real areas of potential harm to the child.
What Stagecoach is suggesting is that, instead of the individual child
having to be licensed, the employers - theatres and production companies
- should be licensed and subject to regular checks. Local authoritues
would still have to be informed about youngsters appearing , but it
would not be necessary for them to have a license. This would mean changing
the Children and Young Person’s Act (1963) and the Children Act
(2004) and the Department for Education and Skills told The Stage that
it is not considering alternative legislation or changing the advice
it gives to local authorities.
The DfES sokesperson told the newspaper, "Local authorities are
responsible for administering the legislation in their areas and are
best placed to make their judgements in accordance with local circumstances,
such as the advice of head teachers, but based on national standards."
Anyone wishing to contribute to the debate can do so on the Stagecoach
website at www.stagecoach.co.uk/childlicence/childlicence.php
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