This briefing note aims to highlight the key issues that will affect you and how they might impact on the running of your business. It is intended as a guide only.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What business activity is governed by this Act?
2. The role of the Local Authority
3. The duty of Licensing Authorities
4. How will the Licensing Authority determine licensing functions?
5. What type of licensing applications will Licensing Authority determine?
6. How do I obtain a new Personal Licence?
7. How do my premises become licensed?
8. Can the Licensing Authority put conditions onto the premises licence?
9. What happens if there are objections to the premises licence?
10. If the premises licence holder dies, etc. can we still operate?
11. Can the Licensing Authority make changes to my premises licence whilst it remains in force?
12. How will the Licensing Authority set its fees?
13. What if I want to continue running outside bars from my premises?
14. As far as the actual running of my premises is concerned, what offences may be committed?
15. I occasionally have live entertainment in my pub. Is this a licensable activity?
16. For late entertainment, I have to provide food. Will that apply in future?
17. What if I want to open later than normal for, say, Christmas Eve?
18. And finally…….

1. What business activity is governed by this Act?

Four 'licensable activities' are specifically named:-

a) the sale by retail of alcohol
b) the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club, or to the order of, a member of the club
c) the provision of regulated entertainment
d) the provision of late night refreshment


2. The role of the Local Authority

The 'Licensing Authority' for all the above activities is the relevant local authority, be it a district council or a London borough council. The local council is responsible for all licensing matters listed above. The Magistrates Court is now only be used in appeal proceedings and some further licensing matters such as Closure Orders.


3. The duty of Licensing Authorities

There is a clear statutory requirement that Licensing Authority must carry out their function with a view to promoting the licensing objectives, which are:-

a) the prevention of crime and disorder
b) public safety
c) the prevention of public nuisance
d) the protection of children from harm

In addition, the Licensing Authority must, having consulted with interested parties, publish a licensing policy and have regard to its policy together with any guidance issued from time to time by the Secretary of State. The policy will be published every three years, but may be amended at any time.

The Licensing Authority must also keep a comprehensive licensing register, which is available for inspection by any interested person


4. How will the Licensing Authority determine licensing functions?

Each council has formed a Licensing Committee, which in turn can form sub-committees of three councilors. Additionally, delegated powers has been given to council officers who can determine a range of applications without reference to the committee if no representations have been received in the 28 day consultation period from any responsible authority such as, Police or Fire Service or any interested party such as neighbours living in the vicinity. However, if there are any representations (objections) to any part of the application, then the matter must be laid before a committee.

5. What type of licensing applications will Licensing Authorities determine?

A significant change to previous legislation is the splitting of liquor licences into two parts; a Premises Licence and a Personal Licence. The premises licence can be issued for any prescribed period as determined by the Licensing Authority, but unless revoked or varied will have no renewal period. The personal licence, however, can only be issued for ten years, and is then renewable for further ten year periods.

6. How do I obtain a new Personal Licence?
In order to retail alcohol, you will apply to the Licensing Authority in writing on a prescribed form and providing you comply with the following, the Licensing Authority must issue a personal licence as an administrative function, unless the police object to its grant.

a) you have to be eighteen or over

b) you have to be in possession of an accredited licensing qualification (Such as, BIIAB’s National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders -NCPLH)

c) you have not had a personal licence forfeited in the previous five years

d) you have not been convicted of any relevant offence or any foreign offence

The personal licence allows you to supply alcohol. The style of premises you retail from is irrelevant, and you could move from, say, a village shop to a 100 bedroom hotel to a medium-sized nightclub to a public house without any hindrance whatsoever, providing, of course, that you held a valid personal licence.

If you have been convicted of a relevant offence (The Act specifies a range of offences such as driving under the influence of drink or drugs) then if the chief officer of police feels that the grant of the licence would undermine the crime prevention objective, the police may object to the grant of a personal licence. This would mean that if the applicant wished to proceed, the application would be heard before the Licensing Committee or a sub-committee.

There is no requirement to specify the premises which you intend to operate, and thus anybody who satisfies the requirements may apply for a personal licence before they commence business or enter the licensed trade. A new manager or tenant could therefore obtain the licence before making application to the landlords, operating company or brewery. An individual may only hold one personal licence at any one time.

There are requirements laid down in respect of notification of previous convictions excepting those that are spent for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (c.53) or any convictions pending. The applicant must notify the licensing authority, who in turn must notify the chief officer of police. It will be criminal offence for an applicant not to declare any relevant offences and if convictions come to light after a grant of a personal licence, the information must be considered by the police who may object to that grant and seek revocation from the authority.

Relevant convictions will be recorded on the licence for future reference and any subsequent convictions for relevant offences must be notified to the court, who in turn must notify the authority to update the licence after conviction of certain offences. If the court needn’t, then the holder must. In all circumstances, the licensing authority must be made aware of a licence holder’s previous, pending and subsequent relevant convictions.

Personal licence's must be kept in a secure place and be produced for examination following a request from any constable or authorised officer.

7. How do my premises become licensed?

The premises licence allows licensable activities to take place of the type already described on specific premises. Remember that some premises will be licensed for only one type of activity e.g. a takeaway cafe for the provision of late night refreshment, or a village hall for providing regulated entertainment. Where the retailing of alcohol will take place, a premises supervisor must be designated by the Licensing Authority. As the sale of alcohol will also require a personal licence holder either to be present or to have authorised the sale, it presupposes that the designated premises supervisor will at the very least also be the personal and premises licence holder.

There is a prescribed list of those persons who can apply for a premises licence which includes anybody wishing to carry on a business which requires a licensable activity, and recognised clubs. A body corporate (business such as a managed house operator) could apply for a premises licence in its name, and nominate a personal licence holder as the designated premises supervisor.

The application is made to the licensing authority on a prescribed form, which must be accompanied by an operating schedule, a plan of the premises, what licensable activities are proposed and whether the retail of alcohol is included; if so, a letter of consent must be signed by the designated premises supervisor.

The operating schedule must include a statement of the following matters:-

a) the relevant licensable activities (e.g. sale of alcohol and provision of regulated entertainment)

b) the times during which the activities are to take place

c) any other times that the premises will be open to the public

d) whether the applicant wishes the licence to have effect for a limited period (say, seasonal)

e) where the licensable activities include the sale of alcohol, information on the individual who will be the designated premises supervisor

f) whether the supply of alcohol will be for consumption on the premises, or off, or both

g) the steps which it is proposed to take to promote the licensing objectives

h) any other matters about which the licensing authority may seek information

It would seem logical that a, b, e, f and g will be particularly relevant to the licensed trade. It should be noted that any entertainment (except background music) will in future require licensing as the previous exemption to licensed premises provided by the Licensing Act 1964 to allow up to two live musicians or recorded music without a public entertainment licence will be abolished. All live music, disco and karaoke will be regulated entertainment which is now a licensable activity.

We refer you back to the licensing objectives and ask you to note that g) requires you to outline the steps which you propose to operate to promote those objectives. Your steps might include matters such as potential noise escape; position of stage, disco booth and dance floor; inclusion of noise limiters; double glazing and acoustic insulation; car parking; other environmental issues such as refuse disposal; fire safety matters including equipment, fire escapes and secondary lighting; HASAWA risk assessment; adequate door supervision; staff training; whether children (if any) are allowed on the premises and where; nuisance from patrons leaving the premises; control of vandalism in the near vicinity; restrictions on the number of patrons allowed onto the premises; location of AWP's, cigarette vending machines and pool tables; supervision of trading areas from the bar and sight lines within the premises; use of CCTV; control of outside drinking; safety, location and nuisance from play equipment (if any) in garden areas; smoke free zones and so on. This list is clearly not exhaustive but does show the breadth of issues that will need to be addressed.

An advertisement is required to be published in a local newspaper, a displayed notice has to be up for 28 consecutive days, responsible authorities such as the police, fire or environmental health also have to be served notice. Interested parties includes any person living in the vicinity of the premises, or a body representing them, a person involved in a business in that vicinity or a body representing that business. It is entirely possible therefore that an application could be objected to by neighbours, including other licensed premises in the vicinity, who then might object either individually or in the case of, say, a public house through some organisation such as the LVA.

Remember that if there are no objections to the application, then the Licensing Authority must grant the premises licence as requested. However, if there are any objections to all or part of the application from any source, then the application must go before a committee hearing.

8. Can the Licensing Authority put conditions onto the premises licence?

Very much so, in fact, there are two mandatory conditions relating to the sale of alcohol and the employment of door supervisors.

If any supply of alcohol takes place, then the designated premises supervisor must hold a personal licence and all supply of alcohol must be made or authorised by a holder of a personal licence.

Secondly, if door supervisors are employed, then they must be licensed by the Security Industry Authority.(SIA). The SIA will be responsible for the registration of all door supervisors on a national basis, and will only issue licence's to door staff who have attained the required qualification (BIIAB Door Supervisors National Certificate) and have no relevant criminal record.

Apart from these, the Secretary of State has issued guidelines to avoid restrictive and petty conditions being adopted by Licensing Authorities on a “one size fits all” basis. Remember, if there are no objections to the operating schedule, then no further conditions can be imposed save the mandatory ones outlined above.

Further all conditions must be seen to promote the licensing objectives and be proportional in that aspect. So a blanket ban in Ipswich barring children in pubs, or a ban in Norwich preventing pubs opening after midnight would be against the spirit of the Act, and could be appealed in the Magistrates Court. A condition which might be sensible for a city centre nightclub would not seem appropriate for a village local.

9. What happens if there are objections to the premises licence?

Any interested party may lodge an objection to the grant of a premises licence, and this will mean that a hearing before a committee is the only route forward. However, it is hoped that if an objection is received from, say a neighbour, then a mediation process should be invoked to try and find a suitable remedy. If the objection is then withdrawn, the application can proceed by delegated authority without any hindrance.

If no equitable settlement can be found, the matter will be listed before the committee who may,

a) grant the licence subject to any conditions modified to fulfil the licensing objectives
b) exclude any licensable activity e.g. entertainment
c) refuse to specify a person as a premises supervisor
d) reject the application

There are safeguards against objections which are seen to be frivolous, vexatious, repetitive or not relevant to one of the four licensing objectives.

10. If the premises licence holder dies, etc. can we still operate?

A premises licence lapses if the holder:-

a) dies
b) becomes mentally incapable
c) The business becomes insolvent
d) is dissolved
e) if it is a club, ceases to be a recognised club

Your remedy will be to apply for an interim authority or transfer within seven days by any person who has a prescribed interest in the premises or is connected to the person immediately before it lapsed e.g. a widow. As soon as the authority is in receipt of the notice, the premises licence is deemed to be reinstated if it is requested to have immediate effect. The police then have to be served the notice not more than seven days later, unless a relevant transfer application has been made in that time. The interim authority lasts for two months.

If the police then wish to object, they must do so to the licensing authority within 48 hours of receipt of the notice. (this begs the question as to what happens if you faxed the notice on a Friday night at 6.00 p.m!) The authority must then hold a hearing and either reject the objection or cancel the interim authority.

If a transfer application is served, requesting immediate effect, within seven days of the death etc. then the licence is reinstated upon service.

A premises licence may also be surrendered upon receipt of the written notice by the Licensing Authority.

11. Can the Licensing Authority make changes to my premises licence whilst it remains in force?

The short answer is yes. Any interested party or responsible authority can make application to the Licensing Authority for a review of the existing licence at any time. However, the Licensing Authority can and should reject the application if the ground is not relevant to one or more licensing objectives, frivolous, vexatious and/or repetitive. In other words, your neighbour cannot complain about the colour of your front door, and keep making representation on the same complaint time and time again.

If the complaint is upheld, the committee may:-

a) modify the conditions of the licence
b) exclude a licensable activity
c) remove the premises supervisor
d) suspend the licence for up to three months
e) revoke the licence but only as a last resort.

You can see that premises which are mismanaged could be dealt with extremely harshly.

12. How will the Licensing Authority set its fees?

Fee tables have been published by the DCMS and can be viewed at our "Table of Fees". These fees, which are based on non domestic ratable values for the premises licence, are designed to cover the costs of implementation and enforcement by the Licensing Authorities.

13. What if I want to continue running outside bars from my premises?

You will need to apply for a temporary event notice (TEN) unless the venue already has a premises licence. The premises user is the person who serves the notice to the Licensing Authority and police, who must have ten working days notice before the event. The period of the temporary event may not exceed 96 hours and it is not possible to apply for two back to back as there has to be 24 hours elapsed before the next can be issued if the same organisation applies. Nor can a different person apply for another if they are an associate of the original applicant e.g. spouse or an employee. This does present real difficulties if you are organising an outside event of more than four days duration e.g. a music festival or sports tournament.

The police only have 48 hours to lodge any objection. If they do, the Licensing Authority must arrange a hearing and if satisfied issue a counter notice refusing it. If the police object, and the applicant agrees modifications to the notice, the police can withdraw the objection.

If the premises user also holds a personal licence, then no more than 50 temporary events may be applied for in any one year. However, if the premises user does not possess a personal licence, then no more than 5 may be granted in any year. In any event, no premise or a part of the premise may have more than 12 temporary events (with a maximum aggregate of 15 days) per annum regardless of the status of the applicant.

14. As far as the actual running of my premises is concerned, what offences may be committed?

The Licensing Act 2003 was entirely new legislation and introduced a number of new offences.

The first thing is that an offence is committed if you carry out any licensable activity without authorisation and the penalty is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months and/or a fine up to £20,000. So next time you book a karaoke, think on!

Similarly, anybody exposing without authorisation any alcohol for sale would be committing an offence with the same penalties although tombolas and lottery prizes at charity functions would generally be exempt. So next time you arrange a beer tent at the school fete, think on!

Some other legislation will hopefully be familiar to you:- offences include

a) allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises
b) selling alcohol to a person who is drunk
c) obtaining alcohol for a person who is drunk
d) failure to leave licensed premises at the request of a constable or anyone who works in the premises which authorises him to make such a request
e) keeping smuggled goods on licensed premises
f) sale of alcohol to children under 18 anywhere in England and Wales
g) allowing the sale of alcohol to children under 18
h) sale of liqueur chocolates to children under 16
i) purchase of alcohol by or on behalf of children under 18 anywhere in England and Wales (except test purchasing under the supervision of the police or a weights and measures inspector)
j) The last offence does not apply if a person over 18 orders beer, wine or cider for consumption at a table meal by persons aged 16 or 17. (Consumption can be anywhere on the premises as long as it accompanies a table meal but only an adult can order the drink)

It is an offence to knowingly allow consumption of alcohol by children under 18 anywhere in England and Wales on relevant premises. It is considered that gardens and outside drinking areas should not be included on the licensing plan unless there are licensable activities taking place there. Generally, consumption of alcohol is not covered by this Act.

All offences in the Act can be committed by bodies corporate by either consent or connivance on the part of an officer (an area manager, chief executive or retail director), or by neglect on his part. If proven, both the area manager and his employee could be liable for prosecution.

The legislation on closure orders and test purchasing are also included in the Act. The concept of closure orders is extended, however, to include an identified area and not just specified premises. Thus a police officer above the rank of superintendent can apply to a magistrates court to order all premises within an area to be closed in order to prevent disorder. As now. to close identified premises a senior police officer (inspector or above) may make the order directly.

Similarly test purchasing continues in its present form with both police and weights & measures inspectors able to authorise attempted purchase of alcohol by persons under 18.

15. I occasionally have live entertainment in my pub. Is this a licensable activity?

Very much so – the previous exemption under the licensing Act 1964 allowing licensed premises to have up to two musicians or recorded music has been abolished. With the exception of background music systems, virtually all entertainment whether live or recorded is now a licensable activity. So all music and dancing, including entertainment provided exclusively for a private party, now needs to be applied for. The main relaxation is where there are premises with a capacity under 200 (assessed by the fire authority), with un amplified music playing between 0800 and 2400, then any conditions placed on the premises licence concerning the entertainment activity will not apply unless the conditions relate to public safety or prevention of crime and disorder.

So a 10 piece jazz band playing is clearly going to be less of a nuisance than a solo acoustic guitarist!

Morris dancing, or any dancing of a similar nature, is an exempt entertainment. Quite what constitutes dancing similar to Morris dancing will no doubt keep us lawyers amused for many years. Beards and bells presumably is a necessary qualification!!

16. For late entertainment, I have to provide food. Will that apply in future?

If you wish to provide food between 11.00 p.m. and 5.00 a.m., then provision of late night refreshment is a licensable activity and needs to be part of your premises licence unless you operate a hotel, guest house or a recognised club which are exempt.

However, there is no connection with the sale of alcohol, provision of entertainment and late night refreshment. Each activity can stand on its own merits, although in many cases, there will be mix of these activities in many establishments.

17. What if I want to open later than normal for, say, Christmas Eve?

For special occasions, the Secretary of State is empowered to grant blanket orders to increase the opening hours if the celebration period marks an occasion of exceptional international, national or local significance. Quite what constitutes an exceptional occasion, we can only guess, but an example would include the recent Jubilee celebrations. Note that the order will apply generally or to a specified area only, not to individual premises, so don’t bother telephoning the Secretary of State to get an extension for your birthday! Any other regular extensions, e.g. Christmas Eve, will need to be covered within your operating schedule or by a temporary event notice.

Note that the licensing order concerning New Years Eve (36 hour drinking) will remain in force as an embedded condition, but only if requested on your operating schedule.

18. And finally…….

We hope that the above resume is of help.

If you have any queries about your own premises, please contact the Leisure Department at Howes Percival on 01603 762103