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Don’t stop the music - village halls, churches and charities face new tax

Government to hit local voluntary groups across North Cornwall with new music charges

CHURCHES, village halls, charity shops and sports clubs across North Cornwall face a new £20 million tax from Gordon Brown’s Government, Sian Flynn,  prospective Conservative MP for North Cornwall  has warned. 

In the small print of obscure new regulations, the Government is abolishing charities’ and voluntary groups’ long-standing exemption from music licensing rules – hitting them with unexpected new bills just for holding events with recorded music or for playing a radio.

To date, voluntary groups have not had to pay for a so-called “PPL” performance rights licence in order to play recorded music. This exemption reflects the public benefit that such organisations provide, but this is now being abolished by the Government.

This will affect church worship, charity discos, tea dances, youth clubs, dancing groups, sports clubs and even charity shops which have a radio in their staff room. The changes are being imposed by Peter Mandelson’s Whitehall empire.

The new levy will come into effect in April 2010 once the new regulations are ratified by Parliament. Conservatives are opposing these changes and standing up for local voluntary groups.

The Government admits that the new levies will cost voluntary groups £20 million a year. Some organisations will “cease playing music” because they cannot afford a licence, and it will hit a quarter of a million organisations – 140,000 charities, 6,750 charity shops, 66,440 sports clubs, 4,000 community buildings, 5,000 rural halls and 45,000 religious buildings.

These new levies are on top of bureaucratic rules imposed by the Licensing Act 2003, which requires expensive ‘premises licences’ for village halls to hold regular small-scale social functions, and which has imposed new red tape to play unamplified live music.

Sian said:   This is another Labour assault on the fabric of British community life. Having effectively shut down post offices and local pubs across North Cornwall, Labour’s Whitehall bureaucrats now have our village halls, scout huts, charity shops and churches in their sights. This is a heartless tax on community buildings and charities. The Government should think again and don’t stop the music.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For more information, please telephone Sian Flynn on 07973 189480

NEW BLOW FOR CHARITIES, CHURCHES AND VOLUNTARY GROUPS

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations is running a “Don't Stop the Music” Campaign to highlight the effect of this £20 million levy on the voluntary and community sector.

http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/policy-research-analysis/our-campaigns/dontstopthemusic

The Government’s response to the consultation on the changes has admitted:

Effect on churches

“Christian Licensing International (who license churches and schools) raised questions about the impact of all the options. They were concerned that the performance of religious music at religious gatherings would be affected adversely” (p.5).

“Respondents from religious organisations believed that removal of the exemption would result in a relatively negligible increase in royalties for collecting societies. They anticipated that many such organisations would decide that the expense and paperwork involved in applying for a licence could not be justified, despite music being an intrinsic part of their culture and heritage. Currently PRS has a voluntary exemption for divine worship and civil wedding/partnership ceremonies. Under Option 1 all religious organisations would be required to obtain a licence from PPL” (p.9).

Effect on charities

“It was pointed out that charities are being asked to meet more and more of society’s needs with less money. One large charity claimed that licence fees could rise to 10 times the current cost if PPL licences are required. They suggested that (based on the impact assessment) the benefit to PPL members is half (or less) of the additional cost placed on charitable organisations. The level of increased costs would require serious consideration as to whether music can continue to be used. It was felt that PPL was unlikely to introduce preferential rates for charities. Some felt that Option 1 would lead to a fall in fundraising and a clear reduction in public benefits from charities’ work” (p.8).

Effect on charity shops

“A respondee stated that the additional costs of licensing might threaten charity shops’ existence as it would not be seen as a good use of charitable funds to pay for music but removal of music would impact on numbers of volunteers and customers” (p.8).

Effect on clubs

“Most clubs indicated that they would remove the provision for music and television if Option 1 were implemented, as the cost would be disproportionate to usage levels and might endanger the viability of the club. Some suggested that many clubs would continue playing music out of ignorance or defiance or may resort to playing music that is out of copyright”(p.8).

Changes to exemptions from Public Performance Rights in sound recordings and performers; rights, Consultation: Summary of responses, March 2009.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/response-musiclicensing.pdf

Ministers ignored these concerns and concluded:

“The government has considered all responses carefully and concluded that the exemptions should be repealed (Option 1)” (p.4).

“The impact assessment indicates that the financial costs (ie price of licences) to music users of Option 1 with a simplified tariff system (based on a flat fee of £81 per organisation17) would be £18.7m... The figure of £18.7m does not include the administrative, negotiation and litigation costs to charitable/not-for-profit organisations. This would add a further £1.6m (making £20.3m)” (p.10).

“There will be social costs for users who cease playing music because they cannot afford a PPL licence” (Summary: Analysis & Evidence, Policy Option 1, p.2).

“Other stakeholders, representing users of music have argued that there are social arguments that certain groups should be exempt from payment of either copyright licence as the benefits their organisation provides to society outweigh the benefits of remunerating right holders. They argue that many charitable groups – particularly small charities and community groups – run on a low income and provide services which are highly beneficial to those they work with and the wider community. In particular many are assisting sectors of society which are already disadvantaged and a move to increase the costs placed on these groups could be highly detrimental” (Summary: Analysis & Evidence, p.6).

The Government's impact assessment estimates that 140,000 charities, 6,750 charity shops, 66,440 sports clubs, 4,000 community buildings, 5,000 rural halls and 45,000 religious buildings will be affected - in total, a quarter of a million organisations (Summary: Analysis & Evidence, p.21).

Government response to the consultation on changes to exemptions from public performance rights in sound recordings and performers’ rights, November 2009.

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/govresponse-musiclicensing.pdf

14th January 2010