DCMS Entertainment Licensing Statistics in the year to 31 March 2013

Last month the Home Office released statistics relating to alcohol and late night refreshment licensing in England and Wales as at 31 March 2013. Our article on this can be found here.

This month it is the turn of the DCMS who have now released the entertainment licensing statistics for England and Wales. These can be found here. The figures provided are based on returns by Licensing Authorities but including modelled estimates for non-respondents.

The statistics relate to the position as at 31 March 2013. In brief, key findings and points of note include:

• 117,800 premises licences authorising regulated entertainment in force, representing a 2.5% decrease in numbers compared to 31 March 2012.
  • 90.8% of these are Premises Licences, 9.2% are Club Premises Certificates
  • Previous to this decrease, there had been a slight but steady increase in numbers licensed between 31 March 2008 and 31 March 2012
•  There have been decreases in the number of premises licences authorising live music (-0.5%), recorded music (-0.2%) and performance of dance (-0.1%)
• The most commonly authorised form of regulated entertainment was recorded music – being authorised in 100,600 premises
• The largest % increase in premises licences between March 2012 and March 2013 were for those covering:
  • boxing and wrestling (7.9%)
  • plays (2.6%)
  • indoor sporting events (1.6%)