Christopher BarrettRepresentatives from across the events industry have aired frustration that the UK Government has failed to include promised legislation in the King’s Speech to stamp out ticket re-sale profiteering.
The Labour Government did use the speech to introduce a draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill to cap resale platforms’ service fees and make it illegal to resell tickets for profit, but with it being a draft bill it is unlikely to become law within the next year, and the lack of decisive progress was widely met with disappointment.
Ahead of today’s speech, industry bodies including UK Music, LIVE and the FanFair Alliance had urged prime minister Keir Starmer to keep the promise he made in November to wipe out industrial-scale ticket touting by making it illegal to re-sell live events tickets for above the original cost.
The Government’s November announcement of the plans won the support of consumer watchdog Which? and the Competition & Markets Authority, with the Government’s own analysis finding that the move would save fans around £112 million per year. According to analysis from O2 and the YouGov institute, the practice is costing music fans alone an estimated £145m per year.
FanFair Alliance campaign manager Adam Webb said draft legislation offers a curiously circuitous route to deliver the long-promised reforms: “Why take the long road when you could protect music fans today?”
Among the others to swiftly react to the absence of any firm legislation in the King’s Speech today was Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE – which counts the Association of Independent Festivals, Concert Promoters Association and Production Services Association amongst its membership.
“We welcomed the prime minister’s promise last year to crack down on ticket touts, but a draft bill means unnecessary delay that will see fans being fleeced of at least £500 million,” he said. “Fans have waited long enough. There is no need for further consultation – the evidence and support for action are already overwhelming.
“The Government must now move forward with the legislation as quickly as possible and not lose sight of why it is being introduced, which is to end the ticket touting scandal and protect fans.”
Ticketmaster’s UK managing director Sarah Slater said she was disappointed to see no definitive legislative action to stop ticket touts profiteering: “Ticketmaster voluntarily capped resale prices at face value back in 2018 and continues to invest in protecting fans with safer digital tickets, stronger bot detection, clearer pricing and better information in the queue.
“As long as touts are allowed to make huge profits reselling tickets on other platforms, the problem will continue.”
UK Music chief executive Tom Kiehl said, “I urge MPs to explore the legislative programme and identify alternative opportunities to ensure primary legislation is passed in this year’s Parliamentary session.”
Gareth Griffiths, partnerships & sponsorship director at Virgin Media O2, which sponsors 20 UK live music venues, also said the company was disappointed that only draft legislation was included: “Whilst it’s a step forward, it simply does not go far enough, and the delays will hit the pockets of concertgoers hard. When every pound has never mattered more, this is a real blow to music fans as well as the industry and the artists who have made it loud and clear they want to see real change. O2 will not stop campaigning for a fairer ticketing market until our gigs are protected from profit-seeking touts by law.”
Music Managers Forum CEO Annabella Coldrick said, “Despite having been reassured by the Prime Minister in a letter to fans on Friday that there would be action ‘as soon as possible’, the relegation of this important issue to a ‘draft bill’ in the footnotes of the King’s Speech is hugely disappointing.
“Having campaigned on this issue for a decade, and following a Labour manifesto commitment and full public consultation by Government resulting in strong commitments to legislate last November, it’s puzzling to see the logic in kicking this back down the line.”
“Choosing the longer path via a ‘draft ticket tout ban bill’ will also adversely impact music fans, who are already losing hundreds of millions of pounds each year to price-gouging ticket touts. Further delays will cost them dearly.”
“We agree with the Prime Minister that legislation must be well-drafted and effective. But we need deeds, not words, and a clear and coherent timeline on when this manifesto promise will be fulfilled.”