What is the BBE BOPA?
The BBE BOPA is an easy way to license children who are taking part in performances.
Child performance licensing will apply to your performances if you have any children of 'Compulsory school age' (defined as the last Friday of June of year 11) taking part and one of the criteria below applies:
- Tickets are sold or other charges are made (i.e. fee to participate, donations collected)
- The performance venue has a licence to sell alcohol (even if the bar is closed for your performance)
- The performance is being recorded or broadcast (including live streaming)
There is an exemption if the child has not taken part in more than 3 performances in the previous six months. This is not just in a banding capacity but includes performances of any kind. In practice this can be very difficult to establish as children may be involved in a multitude of activities. As such it is our recommendation not to attempt to use the exemption due to the risk of getting it wrong.
You can find more detailed information here.
How do I access the BBE BOPA?
You will need to set up a personal account for yourself on the BBE website and be linked to your band.
- Go to the BBE website
- Click on Member Login / Create Account (top right-hand corner)
- Create New Account
Add your own personal email address and complete all the fields marked with a *. Create a password. Use ‘I’m not a robot’ and create an account.
IMPORTANT: everyone needs to have their own individual account with a unique email address - this should be the email that you used to register for Bandsafe training. You should not share a band account.
Go to ‘My Account’
Click on ‘Register as part of a member band’ and start typing in the name of your band. This will send an email to your band admin asking them to approve you as a member of the band. It is best if the band admin gives you admin permissions. If you don’t register with your band, your training will not be recognised as being associated with the band and you won’t be able to use the BOPA.
Once you are a band admin you can look at your 'My Group' dashboard to find out whether everything is in place to use the BOPA. Please note that more than one person in your band can have admin status for your band. The Band Admin can set this via 'Manage group, Update members and roles'.
How do I apply for a BOPA?
The person in your band who is the 'Band Admin' for your BBE website band account will be able to look at their ‘My Group’ section on their Member Dashboard to find out whether everything is in place to use the BOPA.
In order to access the BOPA organisations need:
- to be members
- to have had one person complete the Bandsafe Toolkit each year (this person needs to be an admin)
- to have two people who have completed Bandsafe training in the previous 2 years
The 'BOPA Status' tile shows whether the band is eligible to apply to use the BOPA. In the example above, the BOPA status tile is highlighted in red as the band has not met all the necessary conditions. The band has up to date membership, the training is in date but nearing expiry, the Toolkit needs to be completed. It is the lack of this element which means the band cannot currently use BBE's BOPA.
If an organisation is eligible to apply to use BBE's BOPA then the tile will be highlighted in green and another BOPA tile (Apply for Event BOPA) will appear next to it. Click on this tile and fill in the details. You will receive an email with your certificate attached. Send a copy to the local authority where the event is taking place. NB: if you tick ‘public event', your event will be advertised on the BBE website under the members concerts section.
If the BOPA Status tile is highlighted in amber then you can still use the BOPA but some of the conditions will soon require some action.
To satisfy the conditions for using the BOPA you may need to do some or all of the following:
Membership
The band needs to have current membership of BBE – if you have a query about your membership renewal email member@bbe.org.uk or go to Join BBE if your band is not a member.
BandSafe Toolkit
This is an online form to complete, showing that you have satisfied all areas of safeguarding. See the BandSafe page for more information.
To complete the Toolkit you can access this from your own dashboard – BandSafe Self-Assessment Toolkit (see image below). You need to be given admin rights from your band admin to do this for your band.
Training
Two people need to have completed the BandSafe training within the last 2 years. They need to have completed the survey that is sent out after the course for their training to be counted as complete AND they need to have a personal account on the BBE website which needs to be linked to their band.
Please see the advice above about how to apply for a BOPA for guidance on setting up a personal account.
What are the BOPA Terms and Conditions which I need to follow at my event?
In order to use our BOPA there are a number of conditions which must be fulfilled at the event. Please read these carefully as you will need to work through them in advance of the event: https://www.bbe.org.uk/bopa
If you have done all of the above or have any problems along the way you can email:
safeguarding@bbe.org.uk or telephone 01226 771015, option 2 for safeguarding
