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Temporary event notices

The Licensing Act 2003 gave responsibility for Licensing the following activities to Local Councils.

A Premises Licence will be required for:

• the sale or supply of alcohol
• the provision of regulated entertainment
• the sale of hot food or drink between 11.00pm and 5.00am for sale on or off the premises.

Further details, and details of exemptions from these requirements, can be found under 'Premises Licences' on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport website.

Temporary Event Notices (TENS)

These can be used for 'one-off' events and special occasions.

You will need a TEN if you are holding a Licensable activity that falls into one of the following catagories:

• Less than 500 people attending
• Lasting for not more than 96 hours, with a break of at least 24 hours thereafter

You can hold your event by submitting a TEN to the Council at least 10 working days before the event.

This notice allows you to hold a licensable activity on premises that are not currently licensed, or to hold activities your existing licence does not permit. This would allow you to occasionally open later than normal, or occasionally sell alcohol, for example.

Are there any restrictions on TEN's?

• You can only have up to 50 TEN's per year if you are a Personal Licence Holder (see information on Personal Licences)
• You can only have up to 5 TEN's per year if you are not a Personal Licence Holder;
• You must be aged 18 or over
• Restrictions apply where the applicant is an 'associated person' of someone who has already given a TEN, including spouses, close relations, agents and employees, and their spouses. The word 'spouse' also includes someone living with the notice giver
• You can only have a maximum of 12 TEN's a year for any particular premises, subject to an overall limit of no more than 15 days in total (where the TEN lasts for more than one day).

If your event/activity falls outside these restrictions, you will require a full Premises Licence.

If the number of TEN's you seek in a year exceeds the limits above, the Council must serve a Counter Notice prohibiting the event from going ahead. This must be served 24 hours before the event.

You must send a copy of your application to the Police. They can object if they feel your event eould undermine the Crime Prevention Objective. If they do object, we will hold a public hearing in front of our Licensing Sub Committee to determine your application (unless all parties can agree a hearing is unnecessary). The Committee will listen to evidence from both sides before deciding whether the event can go ahead. However, Govement guidance requires that we refuse permission for the event in these circumstances unless there are exceptional reasons not to.

The fee for submitting a TEN is £21.00.

The following documents can be downloaded from the DCMS website www.culture.gov.uk

• The Licensing Act 2003/permitted temporary activities notices regulations 2005
• Application form for Temporary Event Notice and explanatory notes
• Prescridbed form of Counter Notice.

This information has been made as comprehensive as possible. However, in attempting to simplify the law, certain requirements have been omitted. Full details of what you must do are in the legislation itself, and can be viewed at www.culture.gov.uk.

Licensing
Bridgnorth District Council
Westgate
Bridgnorth
WV16 5AA

Tel: 01746 713237
Fax: 01746 764414
Email: licensing@bridgnorth-dc.gov.uk