Residing on premises
QWhat is going to be the situation about residing on the premises if you are a licensee? If the justices have insisted on someone being resident on the licensed premises, will this be carried forward as a condition of the licence?
AThis is an interesting point, because there is nothing specifically in licensing law that requires a licensee to reside in on-licensed premises. I am aware that some courts still tend to insist on this, for reasons that are not entirely clear.
They do it, apparently, mainly for reasons of security, on the basis that a resident licensee is able to act as a night guard whenever necessary. In the eyes of many people this is hardly within their responsibilities, and it may be that they do not have the legal right to insist on it.
Of course, if residency has been made a condition of the licence, or the licensee has given an undertaking to reside on the premises, then if that is not going to be the case an application to the justices will be required, to explain the new circumstances, and this should be commenced without delay.
It is likely that you have made or are about to make an application for a premises licence. If the residency condition or undertaking was placed on the licence, then it will be a matter of record, and if the licensing authority thinks that it goes to the licensing objective of preventing crime or disorder, then they may consider it carries forward on to the new premises licence as a condition, which would then have to be removed by variation.
Inheriting a PPL and PRS
QWe are shortly to take over a pub from someone who is retiring from the trade in September. My question is: will the new all-in-one premises licence cover the various music licences such as PRS and PPL and can we just add them in to the schedule?
AThis is very important for those about to move pubs. The answer is No: these 'licences are in fact copyright agreements and you cannot just inherit them, nor will they form part of the new licensing system for alcohol and entertainment.
In fact, you will need to take out a fresh licence from the copyright agencies concerned. They do not operate on a transfer system and require the incoming tenant or occupier to take out a fresh licence.
They will then refund the unexpired portion of the copyright fee to the outgoing licensee. The reason for this is that, unlike other licences, it is a payment in respect of ongoing copyright activity, not a one-off payment, so when the copyright obligation ceases, there will be a proportion of the fee which is not due.
The situation is different with any existing public entertainment licence, which may be transferred from one occupier to another. Your local authority will be able to give you advice on the procedure to be followed. This will, of course, be included in the new premises licence in due course.
Selling outside hours
'If you are charged over the next three months with selling outside hours and you have put in for a variation giving you an extra hour and you have got the application back, will the prosecution go ahead?
AYou cannot use the new law in place of the old. Until 23 November it will continue to be an offence to sell alcohol outside permitted hours, whatever it says on your new premises licence. Any prosecution will be taken out under the 1964 Act, which is due to be repealed on 24 November. However, a prosecution for an offence prior to that date can still be proceeded with.
