From: Dr. Beau Webber [J_dot_B_dot_W_dot_Webber_at_kent_dot_ac_dot_uk]
Sent: 21 January 2009 10:43
Subject: RE: Licensing enquiry - our ref ***570

Dear Mr. Bridgett,
I thank you for your very helpful and well targetted answer to my questions.
OK, I think that this part of the problem then breaks down into two strands :
Now what I have to establish is a ball-park figure for how many premises prior to the act were putting on music under the "two in a bar" rule, and find out how many now have an entertainment licence / do not have a licence.
I also have to find out how many premises have applied and paid for a licence but are not in fact putting on music, or at least as often as before - and why. I know of a number of premises to which this latter case applies.
With your answer and the recent pubication in "The Publican" of the statistic that the national closure rate of pubs has gone up to 39 per week, we are gradually getting the figures we need to find out what is happening to our pubs and music.
Hopefully we can find out why so we can attempt to reverse the trend.
However the reported advent of sound-limiters in all venues, with associated costs, is not good news for the cause of live music.
Thank you again for your very informative reply,
Cheers,
Beau Webber