Notice period is crucial for TENs
There have been a number of problems surfacing over Temporary Event Notices (TENs).
The main one has undoubtedly been the notice period. The 10 working days has thrown a lot of people in the run up to Christmas.
Under the old system, it was possible to get a special order of exemption very quickly, whether from the magistrates in open court or from the police in the London area, although they usually required written applications well in advance.
Because of the confusion over what has or has not been granted, a number of premises are stuck with their 'old' hours, so they may have booked in events which, technically, will have to end at 11pm. The original pre-Christmas extensions from the magistrates ceased to be effective on 24 November and ought to have been replaced by TENs.
Unfortunately, they weren't. So now we are at the beginning of December and Christmas parties have fallen foul of this 10-day notice rule.
As I have already commented, the council must receive the notice at least 10 working days before the beginning of the event in question. If that is not done, then they have the right to refuse it on technical grounds, even though there are likely to be no objections to the event in question, which might be for local people or for charity.
The other problem concerns successive nights. It may be that you have two parties booked in on the Friday and Saturday and want extensions for each one. The town hall technocrats and the police are pointing out that 24 hours must elapse between two events run by the same person on the same premises and are turning down the second one.
Either run them together as one event, or if possible have a non-related and non-business person make the second application, so that they are not linked. This may be difficult at this late stage, but it is better than losing the event entirely.
While it is true that there are up to 12 days of special events available between now and the end of the year, the technical problems associated with TENs, together with the fact that you have to pay £21 for each one, mean that the full complement will not be taken up by everyone. And of course, those who have obtained 24-hour licences will not need them at all, unless they intend to put on entertainment which is not covered by the existing permission.
