Street performers march on Westminster City Hall

Street performers have delivered a petition to Westminster Council's Leader calling for a licensing scheme that they claim will prevent them from being able to perform in Covent Garden to be scrapped.

The petition, put together by performers' union Equity, says Westminster Council is "threatening to stamp out affordable family entertainment in the West End by imposing expensive heavy-handed and unnecessary licensing conditions".

The local authority previously introduced licensing regulations for street performers in April 2021, including restrictions on using amplified sound, props that could be perceived as dangerous, and limiting performance and spectating space to five square metres, but they have been largely unenforced by Westminster Council.

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Council members will decide next Monday (4 December) whether to discontinue the scheme, limit it to fewer areas, or continue and prioritise more resources for enforcing it. Covent Garden Street Performers Association says that based on communications it has had with the council, it believes members will vote to implement licence restrictions.

"We are calling on Westminster Councillors to reject the voices of gentrification and revoke the heavy-handed, unnecessary licensing conditions in Covent Garden that threaten the future of this Great British tradition," the petition states.

Ian Manborde, Equity’s Industrial Official for Street Performance, said: “This is over-regulation on stilts. Westminster Council is forcing workers to pay to work and putting a great British tradition at risk. 

"Our members have carefully stewarded street performance in Covent Garden for decades. We don’t believe there is any need for a licensing scheme in Covent Garden, and we call on the council to revoke it immediately.”