Update on Westminster's Busking and Street Entertainment Policy

Dear Stakeholders,
Thank you for your patience while we develop our busking and street entertainment policy. We are grateful for your engagement in the process.

As you will know, we consulted on our new draft policy from 24 September to 1 November 2020. The council received over 900 responses to the consultation, along with written representations. We have said from the start that we want to involve the views of as many interested parties as possible. We have reviewed and considered all the consultation responses and made some changes to our proposals as a result. In doing so, we have tried to balance the feedback and concerns of those who live, work and perform in Westminster.

Key changes include:

• Moving the location of the Villiers Street pitch, following concerns expressed by many residents
• Removing the requirement for a 20-minute break, as many performers felt this would be too disruptive and restrictive
• Creating an additional pitch in Covent Garden and adding amplification in James Street to help increase access for performers
• Addressing concerns about exclusion by relaxing ID requirements and reducing the licence fee for a shorter period and for students

For more details, see the full consultation report and updated policy.

The team is taking the results of the consultation, along with our proposals and recommendations, to the council's licensing committee on 25 November. The papers for this committee and how to join have been published today and can be found here.

If you would like to speak or make a representation at this committee, there will be an opportunity to do so. Please register by emailing streetentertainment@westminster.gov.uk before 5pm on 20 November for a three minute slot. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of digital events, you will only be able to speak at the committee if you pre-register.

If you have any questions, please contact us at streetentertainment@westminster.gov.uk.

Many thanks,
The Busking and Street Entertainment Team