Government tout report step in the right direction

Written on Thu 26 May 2016

The long-awaited government report into ticket touting makes some positive recommendations. And although we’d like to see it go further it’s a definite step in the right direction.

The report calls for a proper enforcement of the current law, with substantial fines for breaches of the law requiring tout sites to give proper information. And it calls for funding for the police to enforce this. We think this would be a positive step. The Consumers Association revealed this week that the current law is widely flouted.

But it stops short of calling for new laws to prevent touting. In particular it says that placing a cap on ticket price mark ups would be unenforceable.

It also calls for organisations to be set up to keep an eye on the secondary market, with a hint of future ramping up of legislation if the current laws do not achieve their goals.

A definite move in the right direction, and we look forward to progress at last.

The full report is at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/525885/ind-16-7-independent-review-online-secondary-ticketing-facilities.pdf