The UK’s membership association for leisure-time music groups, Making Music, has launched a new service called Making Music Safe (MMSafe). The service is designed to make it easier for members to include young people in performances by opting into a national licensing scheme.
Currently, all leisure-time music groups require a license or an exception called a ‘Body of Persons Approval’ (BOPA); this comes from the secretary of state for education or a local authority, and usually covers more than one child.
When these are issued, different local authorities can ask for different information, or can mandate the use of licensed chaperones which can create a significant administrative burden for music groups.
However, the new MMSafe service offers members access to a national BOPA across England and Wales.
The new ‘low admin option’, administered by Making Music’s partners at Brass Bands England (BBE), was developed with the Department for Education who issue the underlying BOPA and the NSPCC.
The scheme also aims to increase the level of safeguarding confidence in the sector by supplying essential training as a requirement in order to access the BOPA, alongside support with policy writing.
The admin surrounding child performance licensing can be ‘a real barrier’ that can ‘discourage groups from allowing children and young people from taking part in their events’, says Making Music chief executive, Barbara Eifler.
‘MMSafe will make it easier for members to comply with the law and give additional assurance to parents and carers that our musical spaces are a safe place for children to enjoy themselves in their leisure time,’ she adds.
Making Music members will be able to subscribe to the service for £48 per year.
