Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Apr-May 2022 number 150

Click on the picture above to read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - Apr-May 2022 number 150

Royal Albert Hall: Charity Tribunal

In her capacity as Co-Chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse, Sharon organised a cross-party group of MPs and Peers led by along with Nigel Adams MP, Chair of the Music APPG, and were joined with famous faces, such as Imogen Heap, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child producer Sonia Friedman, and Josh Franceschi of You Me At Six!. The photo call called on the Government to accept the “Ban the Bots” amendment during Report Stage of the Digital Economy Bill on the 28.11.16.

The photo call took place outside of Parliament, where MPs and Peers backed an amendment drafted by Nigel Adams MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Music, and tabled on a cross-party basis by the entire Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and supported by Sharon Hodgson MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ticket Abuse, and Tom Watson, Labour’s Culture Secretary and Labour’s Shadow Culture, Media and Sport team, which would ban the use of bots to buy tickets. The Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s move follows years of campaigning by Sharon and the APPG for Ticket Abuse to consider how to tackle different aspects of a multi-faceted issue.

The photo call also linked in with the #ToutsOut campaign by Fan Fair Alliance, who have been galvanising the industry to tackle ticket touting and ensure fans are put first in the market. 

This came off the back of a Parliamentary Petition which saw more than 83,000 people call for further transparency measures in the market to help empower fans and protect them from the unscrupulous actions of touts.

Following the photo call, Sharon, said:

“It was excellent to see our cross-party campaign to take another step forward after many years of campaigning on the many issues in the ticketing industry which are locking fans out of seeing their favourite artist, sports team or theatre show. The chorus of concerns from industry, fans and Parliamentarians a like is becoming hard for the Government to ignore. It’s time the Government acted.”

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - July-Oct 2016 number 88

Read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - News from Westminster - July-Oct 2016 number 88

In her capacity as Co-Chair of the  All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ticket Abuse, Sharon has come out in support of the launch of FanFair Alliance.

FanFair Alliance is a campaign group which unites music businesses, artists and fans against abuses in the secondary ticketing market.

At a launch in Central London, FanFair Alliance brought together interested parties, including managers of bands such as Arctic Monkeys, One Direction and Mumford and Sons, along with music trade bodies including Music Managers Forum, to urge the Government to take four pragmatic steps that would ensure the fraudulent activity of touts is stopped and face value tickets are put into the hands of fans.

These four steps include:

1. Enforcement - especially of legislation such as the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
2. Transparency - where fans know who they are buying from.
3. Responsibility – where secondary platforms are showing corporate responsibility towards consumer protection legislation.
4. Supply – to address the abuse of technology, such as ‘bots’, which harvests tickets and stops fans from getting tickets.

Fans can sign up to the campaign by visiting the website here: www.fanfairalliance.org to share their experiences and stories and follow them on social media at @FanFairAlliance or www.facebook.com/FanFairAlliance

Following the launch of FanFair Alliance, Sharon said:

“For too long fans have been ripped off by ticket touts and the Government have continually failed to offer support to fans to put them first, through ensuring legislation is properly implemented and has the teeth to protect fans from the abuses seen in the secondary market.

“The launch of FanFair Alliance so soon after the publication of the Waterson Review which called on the Government to do more in this area, is welcome news and will provide fans with a way to voice their concerns with the secondary market. I hope many fans will sign up to this campaign by visiting their website.

“I look forward to working closely with FanFair Alliance to ensure Parliament can help voice the concerns of fans with Government and in order that fans are put first once and for all.”

Sign the Government petition here >

(From CMA website) "The CMA is reviewing the compliance of 4 secondary ticket platforms with their undertakings and other legal obligations."

Sharon Hodgson, Co-Chair of the APPG on Ticket Abuse welcomes recommendation for an investigation by Police and National Trading Standards into compliance of the law by the secondary ticketing market.

Sharon called a debate to discuss ticket touting and the work of the new APPG on Ticket Abuse, which she co-Chairs.