Feargal Sharkey, Chief Executive of UK Music, is finally
to meet the Metropolitan Police Clubs & Vice unit to discuss the controversial
Form 696.
Sharkey first raised the issue last November while giving evidence to
the Culture, Media and Sport Committee inquiry into the Licensing Act.
According to reliable sources, the meeting will be held 'within the next
two weeks', but neither the Met nor UK Music will disclose the date.
'We won't be saying anything more publicly until those meetings have concluded',
commented Adam Webb, Press and Communications Executive at UK Music.
According to a report in Music Week dated 23 March 2009, entitled 'Met
police gig tactics under fire', 70 venues in London are now required to
complete Form 696, which demands performers' contact details and dates
of birth, the style of music to be performed, and whether the event is
a birthday party, two weeks in advance of gigs:
http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/vip/profile/warby/blog/109610/Met_Police_gig_tactics_under_fire.html
Sources close to South Wales Police have warned that this area may soon
become the first to deploy Form 696 outside London, apparently to tackle
knife crime.
The online petition against Form 696 is currently 10th in the list of
petitions on the Number 10 website, with 16,447 signatures:
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Scrapthe696/
ENDS
Hamish Birchall
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