The UK’s Creative Industries Minister, Ian Murray, told delegates at the Labour Party Conference this week that the UK government hopes to implement its promised ticket touting ban “quicker than we initially intended”.

The minister’s comments followed reports in The Guardian last weekend that the Department For Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has now assembled “a sizeable bill team” to draft legislation that will introduce the ban and to then steer that legislation through Parliament.

The government announced last year that it would introduce a new law that banned for-profit ticket touting, where touts hoover up tickets for in-demand events and then resell them at a hiked-up prices on platforms like StubHub and Viagogo.

That announcement was welcomed by the comedy, theatre and music industries, which have been calling for better regulation of ticket touting for years. However, since then ministers have been vague about when the ban will become law, while ticket touts and the touting platforms have continued to lobby against the proposals.

When the government set out its legislative agenda for the next year in the King’s Speech back in May, there was a commitment to publish “draft legislation” on the touting ban, but no firm commitment on when the ban might actually become law.

That somewhat vague commitment was criticised by the industry and consumer rights groups that have been campaigning on this issue.

However, since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister there has been some optimism that the touting ban might be moved up the priority list.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy seemed to confirm that was so in Parliament earlier this month when she said “the Prime Minister feels particularly passionate about this issue and we will give the legislation the priority it deserves”.

Murray’s statements during at UK Music session at the Labour Party Conference will heighten that optimism, even if we still don’t have a firm timeline.

Admitting there was a certain urgency because “£400,000 a day leaves the pockets of fans and goes into the pockets of touts”, Murray promised the draft touting ban bill would be published “as quickly as possible” and “quicker than we initially intended”.