The petition calling on the Prime Minister to scrap Form 696 now has over 6,100 signatures and is currently 16th in the list of nearly 5000 petitions on the Number 10 website: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Scrapthe696/

The police claim that completion of the form is voluntary, but this would not be the case where a London council makes completion a condition of a licence under the Licensing Act 2003.

In the past year the form and the Met's catch-all definition of qualifying events (see below) have been adopted by a majority of the 33 London councils as a potential licence condition under the Licensing Act 2003. Where thus enforced venues must provide the names, addresses, and dates of birth of performers two weeks in advance of gigs, or face potential criminal prosecution. The form also demands information about the 'target audience' and the style of music being played, citing by way of example RnB, garage and bashment, genres known to be popular with ethnic minorities. This has led to accusations of racism.

Metropolitan Police definition of events to which Form 696 applies:

'A significant event will be deemed to be: any occasion in a premises licensed under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003, where there will be a live performer(s) ? meaning musicians, DJs, MCs or other artiste; that is promoted in some form by either the venue or an outside promoter; where entry is either free, by invitation, pay on the door or by ticket.' [Croydon's Statement of Licensing Policy 07 January 2008]
See (PDF file): http://www.croydon.gov.uk/contents/departments/business/pdf/599320/lpstatement.pdf
Search within the document for 'Significant Event'

ENDS

Hamish Birchall