The music industry has been left “disappointed” by the UK government’s draft bill on a ticket tout ban in the King’s Speech today (Wednesday May 13). Just last week, Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to “stamp out ticket touts for good” in a letter to live music fans, promising to act “as soon as possible,” as exclusively revealed by NME.

However, in the King’s Speech delivered in the Houses of Parliament earlier today, the plans to tackle the issue were introduced as a draft bill, dubbed the Draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill. Its status as only a draft bill deprioritises this vital piece of legislation, and it will likely result in a much lengthier process than it could have been if introduced as a primary government bill.

Draft bills are designed to be subject to consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny from parliamentary committees, industry groups and consumers before being formally introduced to Parliament as legislation, meaning any eventual law to combat ticket touting could still be years away.

The government has said the draft bill will “seek to destroy the operating model of ticket touts, improve access for genuine fans when tickets originally go on sale, and end rip-off resale prices once and for all.” It would make it illegal to resell a ticket at more than its original cost, cap service fees, make it illegal to resell more tickets than you are entitled to buy, place obligations on resale platforms and empower the Competition and Markets Authority to impose tough fines.

Many in the music industry have been left disappointed that the bill will be subject to consultation before arriving in Parliament. Tom Kiehl, chief executive of UK Music, stated: “The Government’s failure to take long promised action on the shady ticket touts and rogue businesses who continue to rip off consumers is a betrayal of millions of music fans.”

Ticketmaster UK’s managing director Sarah Slater added: “No definitive legislative action to stop ticket touts profiteering is disappointing. As long as touts are allowed to make huge profits reselling tickets on other platforms, the problem will continue.”

Responding to the criticism, a government spokesperson said: “As the Prime Minister has made clear, we remain fully committed to stamping out ticket touting for good. That’s why we are taking the time to get this right by bringing forward draft legislation to ensure that our measures are truly effective, enforceable and future-proof.”