The Licensing Act 2003 – the new regime
The position from 24 November 2005
The new Licensing regime came into effect on 24 November 2005. From that date every village hall/community building putting on “regulated entertainment” must hold a Premises License (PL) or, if no PL is held, then permission for the event must be obtained from the local authority through the auspices of a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).
If alcohol is to be sold at an event within a hall that has a PL which covers the sale of alcohol then all sales must take place under the authority of a Personal Licence holder. (A Personal Licence can be granted to an individual authorising that individual to sell alcohol, or authorise its sale, in accordance with a premises licence).
If alcohol is to be sold at an event within a hall whose PL does not cover the sale of alcohol then a TEN must be taken out to cover the sale.
If regulated entertainment or/and sale of alcohol is to take place at an event in a hall that has no Premises Licence then a TEN is required.
Premises may use no more than 12 TENs in any one calendar year. Anyone can obtain up to 5 TENs a year. This means that people hiring the hall are allowed to obtain TENs, as well as members of the hall Management Committee. Many halls will prefer to obtain all the TENs themselves, to help them keep control of the number of TENs being issued for their premises. If this is the case then committees need to ensure that this is clearly stated in their hiring agreement.
Necessary action by management committees.
Management committee members (trustees) should be aware of the reasons for the new legislation and understand the terminology used.
Trustees of halls who have not yet gone through the process of obtaining a Premises Licence will find the following background information useful to help them decide whether their hall requires a Premises Licence.
Trustees of halls which have obtained a PL may find the background information a useful reminder of the process they have been through.
Background information
The old regime
Prior to 24 November 2005 the situation was that under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 all places which were used for public dancing, music, or public displays, contests or exhibitions of sport or other types of entertainment were required to hold a Public Entertainment Licence (PEL). The licence regulated/controlled:
(a) the safety of the premises when members of the public were present (fire safety, maximum numbers in attendance, hygiene)
(b) the prevention of nuisance (noise, rowdiness in and out of the premises).
The PEL covered music, singing and dancing but did not cover stage performances such as plays, pantomimes and operas. A separate Theatre Licence was needed for those.
Normally no fee was payable for a PEL if the applicant was a church hall, village hall, parish hall or similar community building.
The licensing and enforcing authority was the local authority applicable to where the community building was situated.
The whole point of the licence procedure and the conditions attached to obtaining a licence was to safeguard the safety of the public and prevent public nuisance.
PELs were normally granted for a period of one year and most community buildings requiring a licence would apply for one year licenses. However people could apply for occasional licences which covered only one off events or a series of such events eg barn dances, line dancing events.
Alcohol and the community building
Alcohol is often provided at a Social Event in a hall / community centre. However the sale of alcohol has always been strictly governed by various licensing acts.
Most halls/centres do not supply alcohol on a permanent basis but only from time to time as part of an event. In these circumstances an occasional licence was appropriate.
Application for an occasional licence was required to be made, in duplicate, to the Licensing Justices in the licensing district where the hall was and the event was to take place, at least 3 weeks before the date of the next licensing session. (In practice 2 months was more usual).
A Hall itself could obtain a maximum of 12 occasional licences in a 12 month period or use a local publican to provide a bar service. In that instance the publican would make an application for the occasional license. The 1983 Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act allowed for different voluntary organisations to each apply for up to 12 permissions per year to serve alcohol. Thus there was provision for an almost unlimited number of occasional licences in a year for any one community building.
The new regime
The Licensing Act 2003 affected those involved in the following businesses and activities: Pubs and nightclubs; Indoor sporting events; Off-licences; Restaurants that serve alcohol, Businesses offering hot food between 11.00pm and 5.00am; Hotels, guest houses and other places that sell alcohol; Private members clubs and social clubs; Theatres and amateur dramatics groups; Cinemas; Organisers of regulated entertainment.
(“Regulated entertainment” is a performance of a play; an exhibition of a film; an indoor sporting event; a boxing or wrestling entertainment; a performance of live music; any playing of recorded music; a performance of a dance; and entertainment of a similar description to that falling within the performance of live music, the playing of recorded music and the performance of dance where the entertainment takes place in the presence of an audience and is provided for the purposes of entertaining that audience. (live music, or the playing of recorded music which is incidental to the event, is not regarded as the provision of regulated entertainment for the 2003 Act)).
Village halls and similar establishments were likely to be involved under the categories of organisers of regulated entertainment and a possible involvement in the sale of alcohol.
The four principal objectives of the legislation were (and still are):
(a) the prevention of unreasonable public nuisance
(b) the prevention of crime and disorder
(c) ensuring public safety
(d) protection of children from harm
Under the new system:
· A premise licence (PL) is required where any of the above mentioned activities are carried out.
· A personal licence is needed by anyone who wants to allow the sale of alcohol as part of their business
· The Local Authority (LA) deals with the issue of licences, including the licence to allow the sale of alcohol.
· Adults (over the age of 18) can apply to the LA for a Temporary Event Notice which can cover occasional events, including those at which alcohol is to be supplied. These are limited to 5 per annum for any one person and up to a maximum of 12 per annum for any one set of premises. There is currently a charge of £21 for each TEN issued.
Most community buildings in Northumberland that currently have a PEL have applied for a Premise Licence excluding the sale of alcohol (because they don’t want to have one premises supervisor with a personal licence who is responsible for all sales of alcohol on the premises). In many instances the licence covers the use of the hall for not only for public entertainments but also for theatre/cinema performances and other performances of regulated entertainment. In such circumstances, when an event held in the community buildings requires the supply of alcohol it must be covered by a TEN. Where the sale of alcohol is covered by a TEN it is the responsibility of the premises’ user to authorise the sales.
