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

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.