Brass Bands England’s latest response in the long running Nationals registry saga has been published on their website.

Non compliance

The organisation is now recommending that English bands enter each regional event by the required closing dates, but refrain from joining the Kapitol Promotions backed Brass Band Players Registry – a tactic of non compliance that they hope will force the Regional Committee to copy what they call the ‘blueprint’ approach recently undertaken by the North West Regional Committee.

Statement

In their statement, BBE argue: "Following on from the recent meetings in Barnsley and Darlington the Board of Brass Bands England has now had time to consider the passionate views of bands at both meetings.

Brass Bands England acknowledges that the Regional Championships and the National Finals are part of our brass band heritage and we do not want to discourage bands from entering their regional championships.

It is not Kapitol Promotions who would suffer if this occurred, but the regions themselves who would be put in financial difficulty if there were very few entries.

The bold decision announced by the North West Regional Committee is a confident step in a direction we support and a blueprint for a way forward. This is the recommendation that Brass Bands England is giving to bands – to keep lobbying Regional Committees through individual bands and Associations.

It is the bands that can make this happen. If enough support is forthcoming, Regional Committees will need to reconsider their decisions to only allow their contests to be run on Brass Band Player cards.

There is still time for this to happen; entries can be submitted in time for closing dates, but of course bands do not have to be registered until one week before the contest date.

Overwhelmingly the feeling amongst bands is that they do not want and do not need the Brass Band Player cards. Bands need to make their own decisions (and we know how difficult this is) but they have the power to make these changes happen and should act together now."

If enough support is forthcoming, Regional Committees will need to reconsider their decisions to only allow their contests to be run on Brass Band Player cardsBBE

Further details

Further details can be found at: http://brassbandsengland.ning.com/