This is a guide to the new regime laid down in the Licensing Act 2003.  This came into effect for practical purposes on 24th November 2005.  The old law is now history.

It is always important always to take appropriate advice on any particular problem. The guide is inevitably a simplified and shortened statement of the law.

Contents

The sale of alcohol by retail
The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club, or to the order of, a member of a club
The provision of regulated entertainment
The provision of late night refreshment
Authorisation of licensable activities
The licensing objectives
Premises Licences
The operating schedule
The designated premises supervisor
Changing the premises supervisor
Objections to an application
Life of premises licence
Applications to vary premises licences
The licence document
Review of licence
Personal licences
Temporary event notices
Club premises certificates

Remember that we can only provide a brief outline of the law on this page. Each case depends on its own facts and action should not be taken without appropriate professional advice.

The Licensing Act 2003 introduces separate licences for the premises and for the individuals.  These are known respectively as the Premises Licence and the Personal Licence.  In order for the sale of alcohol to take place, the premises must have a premises licence and there must be a designated premises supervisor who must hold a personal licence.   Every sale must be made or authorised by a personal licence holder.  It also the makes the regulation of licensable activities the responsibility of local district and borough councils.  Licensable activities covered by the act are:

$                    The sale of alcohol by retail;

$                    The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club, or to the order of, a member of a club;

$                    The provision of regulated entertainment;

$                    The provision of late night refreshment.

The sale of alcohol by retail

Alcohol means spirits, wine, beer, cider or any other fermented , distilled or spirituous liquor.  A sale by retail is any sale except those to made to a business or club to be sold on to customers.

The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club, or to the order of, a member of a club.

In theory a club=s supply of alcohol is the property of all of the members and a supply to a member is not therefore a sale by retail.  The supply by a club to members is therefore a separate licensable activity.

The provision of regulated entertainment.

This includes the provision of entertainment or entertainment facilities for members of the public or a section of the public, exclusively for members of a club or members and their guests.  It also includes the provision of any entertainment or entertainment facilities provided for payment and with a view to profit .This means that a private function could be within the definition but only if there is a charge made and the function is run with a view to a profit as opposed to just covering the cost of the entertainment.

Regulated entertainment also includes showing films putting on plays and the provision of sporting activities for spectators.

The provision of late night refreshment.

This is the provision of hot food or hot drink between the hours of 11pm and 5am for consumption either on or off the premises either to members of the public or from premises to which the public has access.  Premises can include a vehicle.  The supply of hot food to a person staying  in a hotel is excluded but public houses and nightclubs supplying hot food after 11pm will need to be licensed.

Authorisation of licensable activities.

The above licensable activities may be permitted by a premises licence, a club premises certificate or a temporary event notice.

The licensing objectives.

As stated above the regulation of licensable activities under the new act lies with the council.  In deciding whether to grant a licence or certificate the council may only have regard to four licensing objectives. These are:

$                    the prevention of crime and disorder;

$                    public safety;

$                    the prevention of public nuisance; and

$                    the protection of children from harm.

The council must exercise its functions with a view to promoting the licensing objectives and must also have regard to its statement of licensing policy and any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.  The councils are required to draw up such statements of policy with a view to promoting the licensing objectives. 

Premises Licences.

A licensable activity may not be carried on from any premises without a premises licence, a club premises certificate or a temporary event notice.  A premises licence may be granted to a person who carries on or proposes to carry on a business which involves the use of the premises for  licensable activities. A person includes a body of persons corporate or unincorporate.  Therefore a company, partnership or an individual could apply for and be granted a premises licence.  An individual must be over the age of 18.  Application may be made for the transfer of the premises licence to a new licence holder.

The application for a premises licence is made to the local authority for the area in which the premises are situated.

The operating schedule.

Every application for a premises licence has to be accompanied by an operating schedule.  The operating schedule is to be drawn up by the applicant for the licence and is to state:

$                    what licensable activities he intends to carry on in the premises;

$                    the proposed times of opening;

$                    the period during which the licence is in force (but only if the applicant wished it to be for a limited period.);

$                    whether the consumption of alcohol is to be on or off the premises or both;

$                    the steps to be taken to promote the licensing objectives.

The applicant may specify any combination of the licensable activity depending on how he intends to use the premises.  E.g. he may wish to sell alcohol, provide regulated entertainment, show films, and sell hot food after 11pm and each of these will have to be specified. If an activity is not specified in the operating schedule it will not be licensed because whatever is specified in the schedule will be converted into conditions on the licence if the application is approved.  The incorporation of the activities specified in the operating schedule into conditions on the licence sets those activities in stone and they may only be changed by making an application to the council for variation.

The designated premises supervisor

Where a premises licence permits the sale of alcohol there are two mandatory conditions. These are:

$                    that no sale of alcohol may be made at a time where there is no designated premises supervisor or when the designated premises supervisor does not hold a personal licence or his personal licence has been suspended. And

$                    that every sale of alcohol must be made or authorised by a person who holds a personal licence.

The operating schedule  must state who the designated premises supervisor is to be and his written consent must be included with the application.

There may only be one designated premises supervisor and he may also be the holder of the premises licence.  At any premises the operators may decide to have a number of personal licence holders to ensure that the condition that sales of alcohol be made or supervised by a personal licence holder is complied with.

Changing the premises supervisor.

Application is made by lodging the prescribed form, the licence and the fee The police may object but only on the ground that the grant of the variation would undermine the prevention of crime objective.

Objections to an application

If there are no Arelevant representations@ the application for a premises licence must be granted with the imposition of such conditions as are consistent with the operating schedule together with the mandatory conditions referred to above.  There is a further mandatory condition that if there are door supervisors they must be licensed by the Security Industry Authority.

A relevant representation@ may only be made by Aan interested party@ or a "responsible authority@

AAn interested party@ is:

$                    a person living within the vicinity of the premises; or

$                    a body representing persons living in the vicinity of the premises; or

$                    a person involved in a business in that vicinity; or

$                    a body representing persons involved in such businesses.

A "responsible authority@ includes the police, the fire authority, the local planning authority, the local authority itself and any body in the area responsible for the welfare of children.

An objection referred to in the act as a representation may only be admissible if it relates to the licensing objectives.

In many cases where there are no relevant representations the application will be granted at officer level without the need for any hearing by the local authority=s licensing committee.  If there are representations the local authority has discretion to impose conditions that are necessary for the promotion of the licensing objectives.

Life of premises licence.

Such licenses are not subject to renewal and have effect until revoked, suspended or surrendered or the licence holder becomes mentally unstable, insolvent or dies.   An annual fee is payable to the local authority.

Applications to vary premises licences

When a licence is granted the conditions imposed on it give effect to the details set out in the operating schedule and therefore whatever was specified in the operating schedule is then set in stone.  There may be an application to the council to vary the conditions on the premises licence (effectively varying the operating schedule).

The licence document

The licence or a certified copy of it must be kept at the premises under the control of the licensee or a person who has been specifically nominated to have custody or control of it.

The summary of the licence or a certified copy must be prominently displayed at the premises together with the name of the person who has custody or control of the licence document.

It is an offence for the licence holder to fail or refuse to produce the licence on request from the local authority, a constable or an authorised person.

Review of licence

An interested party or responsible authority (see definition above) may apply for the review of a licence at any time. Any review must relate to one or more of the licensing objectives.

Personal licences

A personal licence is only required for the sale of alcohol and not for any of the other licensable activities.  Every sale of alcohol must be made or authorised by a personal licence holder. Any premises licence must specify a designated premises supervisor who must be a personal licence holder. There may only be one designated premises supervisor but because of the requirement that sales of alcohol must  be by or supervised by a personal licence holder it may be prudent for premises to have more than one personal licence holder employed.

Application for the initial grant of the personal licence must be to the local authority for the area where the applicant resides.  That local authority then deals with that personal licence at all times thereafter.  A personal licence is granted for 10 years and has to be renewed every 10 years.  The application for renewal has to be to the local authority that granted it even if the personal licence holder has moved to a different area.

An application for a personal licence must be granted if the applicant :

$                    is at least 18 years old;

$                    possesses a licensing qualification;

$                    has not had a personal licence forfeited in the 5 years immediately preceding the date on which the application is made;

$                    has not been convicted of any relevant offence or foreign offence.

If the applicant does not satisfy the first three conditions the application must be refused.  If the applicant has a conviction then the police may object if they consider that granting the licence would undermine the crime prevention objective.  If the police do not give notice of objection or such notice is withdrawn the licence must be granted.  If they do give notice which is not withdrawn there must be a hearing.  At the hearing the only ground on which the local authority may refuse to grant the personal licence is the promotion of the crime prevention objective.  The list of relevant offences is extensive The list does not include driving whilst disqualified, being drunk and disorderly in a public place, or minor public order offences that are not considered to be violent offences.

A personal licence holder must produce that licence for inspection to a constable where he is present on premises to supply or authorise the supply of alcohol where a premises licence is in force.

Temporary event notices

Under the new system the familiar extensions (special orders of exemption) occasional licences and occasional public entertainment licences have gone.  They are replaced by a system where no actual permission is required. The person wanting to hold an event simply gives notice to which the police give counter notice only of the event does not promote the crime prevention objective.  

A holder of a personal licence may give 50 temporary event notices a year, an individual who does not hold such a licence may give 5. Such an individual does not have to hold a personal licence and must be 18 years of age or older.  Any individual temporary event may last up to 96 hours and the numbers attending at any one time must not exceed 499.  No premises may be used for more than 12 temporary events for a period not exceeding 15 days in any calendar year.  There must be a gap of 24 hours between each temporary event.

Notice has to be given using the prescribed form.  The notice must state:

$                    the licensable activity;

$                    the period of the activity;

$                    the times during the event period that the licensable activities will take place;

$                    the maximum number of persons to be allowed on the premises at any one time;

$                    where alcohol is to be provided whether on or off sales are to be included.

The notice must identify the premises user who is then the person responsible for compliance with the law and therefore liable to prosecution.

The notice must be given to the local authority and the police no later than 10 working days before the event.  The authority must acknowledge receipt of the notice and if the police do not object the event can take place.  The police may object by giving counter notice and then the authority must hold a hearing to consider the application.  The police objection must be on the prevention of crime objective.  The local authority may only refuse the application on this ground.  The local authority cannot therefore consider other things such as for example noise nuisance. Both the premises user and the police may appeal to the magistrates but no appeal can be brought later than 5 working days before the event. The notice must be displayed on the premises or be kept in the custody of the premises user or a nominated person.  If the latter their name must be displayed identifying that person as the custodian of the notice.

Club premises certificates

The special nature of a members club is preserved by the new legislation.   A club does not sell alcohol to members and their guests because the members between them own the alcohol. They are therefore only being supplied with something that they own anyway.

A local authority may only entertain an application for a club premises certificate if:

$                    there is a gap of at least 2 days between nomination or notification for membership and admission;

$                    the club must be conducted in good faith as a club;

$                    the club has at least 25 members;

$                    alcohol is supplied to members and their guests only by or on behalf of the club.

An application for a club premises certificate must be made to the local authority in whose area the premises are situated. 

An application must be accompanied by:

$                    a club operating schedule, giving details of the qualifying club activities, the time when these take place, club opening times, whether off sales are to be made and the steps proposed to promote the licensing objectives;

$                    a plan of the premises;

$                    a copy of the rules of the club.

As with premises licences the application may be granted without a hearing if there are no objections but a hearing must be held if there are.

The club premises certificate lasts indefinitely and does not have to be renewed.  An application for review may be made at any time as with a premises licence.  An application for review may be made by:

$                    an interested party;

$                    a responsible authority;

$                    a member of the club.

Under the old law members clubs were allowed to open their premises for the sale of alcohol to non members.  Often the club would be hired out to non members. The number was specified in the club registration certificate and was often greater than 12.  This power is not repeated in the new act. Instead there is a power to sell to associate members who are members of other qualifying clubs.  Clubs will therefore have to rely on giving up to 12 temporary event notices.  If this proves insufficient the only solution may be to apply for a premises licence and surrender the club premises certificate.  The permitted hours on the premises licence will then need to be such as to accommodate such events e.g. with a terminal hour of midnight or later.

The hours during which a club may provide licensable activities are specified in the operating schedule and on the application being granted become the club=s permitted hours.  They may be varied on application.