I am the convener of the cross-party group on the Scottish Showmen’s Guild, and I will move amendment 68 on behalf of the guild in order to right a wrong that it has been unable to resolve for more than 30 years due to United Kingdom parliamentary procedure and time.
The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, which deals with funfair licensing, creates hardship for showmen who operate their legitimate business and continue their way of life here in Scotland. The 1982 act, which now falls within the competence of the Scottish Parliament, is being used to prevent funfairs by way of the implementation of excessive licensing conditions that take so long to process that events cannot be applied for in time.
Many local gala committees simply cannot have funfairs because the licensing legislation is too expensive, lengthy and involved for them to handle. We have to ask whether funfairs in England, Ireland and Wales are required to hold a temporary public entertainment licence, and the answer is that they are not. Funfairs in the rest of the United Kingdom are not classed as regulated entertainment.
Why are only funfairs that travel through Scotland required to be licensed? It is because of a parliamentary mistake dating back to 1982 in a Scottish act that was introduced by the UK Parliament. At that time, the Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain employed a parliamentary agent to keep abreast of legislation that was likely to affect travelling showmen in both England and Scotland. In 1982, due to an oversight, the parliamentary agent missed the Civic Government (Scotland) Bill and its ramifications for Scotland’s showmen.
In the rest of the UK apart from Scotland, showmen only need to obtain permission to operate. The funfair organiser in England, Ireland or Wales obtains permission from the landowner or local authority and simply notifies the local police of the showmen’s presence in the area. In other parts of the UK, showmen only need to show their safety certificate to obtain permission to operate. The same conditions apply for funfairs in Scotland, which come under directive HSG175—“Fairgrounds and amusement parks: Guidance on safe practice”—and the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
The Scottish Showmen’s Guild works with the National Association For Leisure Industry Certification and the amusement device inspection procedures scheme in ensuring that all funfair equipment is registered and subject to annual inspection, which involves electrical, pneumatic and hydraulic structural testing of welds; design review; conformity of design; risk assessment and HS spot checks.
You may ask whether the 1982 act on licensing relates to safety. It does not. You may ask how, if amendment 68 was agreed to, local authorities would control funfairs without licensing. I contend that there are other provisions in law that cover funfairs, such as the Noise Act 1996, HSG175, the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, the Alcohol etc (Scotland) Act 2010 and the Gambling Act 2005. When applications are made to local authorities, the same procedure would be followed with regard to the police, the fire service, local councillors, local communities and environmental health departments. Most funfairs let land from the local authority, and a simple set of conditions of let can be applied as required and enforced by all Scottish local authorities.
All that we ask for is that which exists in England: fairness. Why do funfairs that travel through Scotland need to be removed from the 1982 act? I suggest that the time that is involved in obtaining a temporary licence is too long to be practical in real life. Applicants need to have all knowledge relating to an application submitted from 28 days up to 90 days in advance of the funfair date, including the layout, the types of rides that will be attending and the specific people who will be presenting those rides. There is no provision in the 1982 act for short notice, emergency changes regarding changes of layout, the tenant of the fair, extra attractions, extensions to dates or new venues. If showmen arrive at a site that is waterlogged, they cannot work, because permission will have been granted only for the particular site.
The 1982 act also affects showmen who present funfairs in other ways. It creates a further financial burden; fees vary between local authorities; and interpretation and implementation of the 1982 act is subject to local policies even if people disregard the working of the act. If a licence is refused, no refund is made to the applicant, who has no alternative way of earning a living during that period. That is totally unfair and it might breach the Human Rights Act 1998.
The 1982 act requires each funfair to be licensed, and the licence must include every tenant of the fair and an equipment plan. Imagine a window cleaner being required to make a separate licence application for every house and to submit a separate plan of each window’s location, type and size. That is what showmen have to provide under the 1982 act.
We can exempt funfairs from the 1982 act by inserting the text that is suggested in amendment 68:
“After section 67, insert—
<Public entertainment licenses: exemption for funfairs
In section 41 of the 1982 Act (public entertainment licenses), after subsection (2)(aa) insert—
“(ab) premises used for the purpose of a funfair;”.>”
Removing funfairs from the 1982 act would remove a financial and insecurity burden from Scottish show people and their families and allow them more opportunity to operate their attractions. It would alleviate the fear and cost of a refusal, give them a greater sense of security and allow them to continue with their culture and traditions. It would also allow them to deal with circumstances that are outwith their control, such as bad weather, and let operators, in conjunction with the local council, seek an alternative site to operate.
If the rest of the UK and the European Union do not have licensing of funfairs, why do we? I understand that the showmen have also gained the support of other parties in Parliament, and I hope that the Government will take steps to support show people in Scotland by removing the anomaly.
I move amendment 68.