APPLICATIONS UNDER THE PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENTS ACT

Mr Simon S C Tay asked the Minister for Home Affairs what is the average time for processing applications under the Public Entertainments Act and the number of applications for permits that have been refused or delayed by more than one month in 1999.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: Applications for Public Entertainment licences are classified under establishment' and ad hoc' types of licences. Establishment' licences are for premises/outlets such as pubs and amusement centres, which provide public entertainment. Ad hoc' licences are mainly for events that last a short period of time, for example, concerts, dramas, plays, variety shows and talks.

Police has publicly pledged to process 90% of all establishment licence applications within 8 weeks and adhoc licence applications within 3 weeks. Applications for establishment licences take a longer time to process as more detailed checks have to be conducted before the Police can be satisfied that law and order will not be compromised for the duration of the licence.

In 1999, more than 50% of all applications were processed within a week while 91% of all applications were processed within 3 weeks. For ad hoc licences, 96% were approved within 3 weeks. Only 179 (4%) applications out of 5,312 applications took more than 4 weeks to process. 109 (61%) of these 179 applications were for establishment licences. Only 64 (1% of total) applications, comprising 54 establishment and 10 ad hoc applications, were rejected in 1999.

The Police constantly reviews its internal processes and will similarly review the time required to process applications for public entertainment licences with a view to speeding it up.