As we approach the festive season, there may be occasions when your current Premises Licence or Club Premises Cerrtificate does not give you enough scope to hold a particulare event. For example your hours for sale or supply of alcohol may not be what your customer wants, or you do not have a particular licensable activity on your licence, such as regulated entertainment or late night refreshment.
Those organising a one-off event who do not have a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate and don’t feel it’s necessary to obtain one will need to give a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) if they wish to carry out any licensable activity.
Licensable activities include the sale of alcohol; live and recorded music, dancing, and events including karaoke, live bands; plays; indoor sporting events and the sale of hot food and drinks after 11pm.
Giving a TEN
You should download and complete a copy of the Temporary Event Notice form from your Licensing Authority or the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website – download a copy from the Government website here. http://www.dcms.gov.uk/images/publications/P_TENupdate1105.pdf
The form must be completed and delivered to the Licensing Authority, with the fee of £21, and at the same time delivered to the Police. The Licensing Authority will confirm the Police address for service.
The form must be in duplicate and delivered a minimum of 10 clear working days between service, namely receipt by the Licensing Authority, and the start of the event. If you have missed this deadline your TEN will be invalid. There is an on-line facility for giving TENS, but check that your Licensing Authority is geared up to deal with on-line applications.
Do bear in mind that just sending the paperwork to the Licensing Authority isn’t enough – you must have a receipted copy of the Notice. Although the Licensing Authority are supposed to acknowledge receipt within 2 days, in our experience they rarely do so.
Objections: the Police can object if they consider that the event is likely to result in crime or disorder. They have 2 working days from receipt of the TEN to lodge their objection. If the Police do make an objection, the Licensing Authority must hold a hearing of the objection within 7 days, and either confirm the TEN or agree with the Police and serve a Counter Notice, which will mean that the notice is invalid.
Act early: make sure you give your TEN at least a month before the event. If the event concerned is a large one, or one likely to cause problems, you are advised to consult with the Licensing Authority and Police at the earliest opportunity.
Display your notice: iIf you manage to successfully negotiate the procedure, you must display the TEN at your event.
You should also remember that if the TEN authorises the sale of alcohol, the applicant will be responsible for the sale of alcohol and any offences that occur. They do not have to personally supervise each sale of alcohol, but I would strongly recommend that they give written authority to each member of staff selling alcohol, who obviously must all be over the age of 18.
Restrictions on TENS
Although these notices might seem a useful way to avoiding getting or extending a full Premises Licence that isn’t quite the case as these restrictions explain:
The event must not last more than 96 hours.
The particular premises to be used can only be used under a TEN for 15 days each calendar year. And note that if an event starts say at 11pm and goes on until 2am, that counts as 2 days!
The particular premises can only used under a maximum of 12 TENS in a calendar year.
The number of people on the premises at any time must not exceed 499, including all staff and performers, so everyone.
If it is the holder of a Personal Licence who gives a TEN, they can only give a maximum of 50 in a calendar year.
Anyone else who gives a TEN, and that includes clubs with a Club Registration Certificate with no Personal Licence holder, can only give a maximum of 5 TENs in a calendar year.
If you exceed these limits then you will have to either vary your existing Premises Licence to cover your requirements, or apply for a new Premises Licence.
For advice on licence applications contact Nigel Musgrove of Cousins Business Law on 01285 847001
Nigel Musgrove
Licensing Law Specialist
Tel: 01285 847001
This blog is not intended to constitute legal advice, nor is it intended to be a complete and authoritative statement of the law, and what we say might be out of date by the time you read it. You should always seek legal advice to confirm whether or how any information in this article applies to your particular situation. We offer a free telephone consultation to discuss your particular circumstances.