Child Employment and Children in Entertainment.
Children from the age of birth until they are
no longer of compulsory school age who are taking part in
entertainment performances or activities may need to be licensed.
The licensing requirements are there to protect the child’s health,
education and welfare.
A young person is of compulsory school
age until the last Friday in June in the school year in which they
reach the age of 16 years.
An application for a licence will usually be
made by the Production Company, agency or person responsible for
the performance or activity but must also be signed by the
parent/carer and accompanied by a photograph of the child. The
local authority must be satisfied that the arrangements for the
supervision and the protection of the child are adequate.
In this regard the law requires that children
involved in performances must be chaperoned by a person who has
been licensed and approved by the local authority, unless that
person is the child’s parent. An application to be approved by
Northumberland County Council to be a chaperone is available for
download.
For more information on children involved in
performances including a list of chaperone responsibilities you can
download our
‘A Guide to
Children in Entertainment 'document.
Child Employment.
The law requires that any child of compulsory
school age who undertakes part time employment must be registered
with the local authority.
If you are under 13 you are not
allowed to work.
On school days children are allowed to work,
outside of school hours, for a maximum of 2 hours:
Either one hour between 7.00am and 8.30am and
one hour between the end of school and 7pm
or
Two hours between the end of school and
7.00pm.
A complete list of hours that children can
work can be found in the leaflet ‘Child
Employment - Guide for Parents and Employers’ which is
available for download.
Documents available for download:
Child Employment permits are issued by the
Education Welfare Service. Applications should be sent to your
local education welfare office. Details of local offices are on the
back of the ‘Guide for Parents and Employers’.
Child Performance licences are issued by the
Children’s Services Department, County Hall, Morpeth,
Northumberland NE61 2EF. Enquiries can be made on 01670 533689.
