Time to ACT!: Get the most out of the Act
The Publican has teamed up with the BBPA and the BII to bring you Time To ACT!, offering guidance on the new licensing regime. This first article...
The Publican has teamed up with the BBPA and the BII to bring you Time To ACT!, offering guidance on the new licensing regime. This first article concerns the personal licence.
You still have plenty of time to ensure that you do get the most out of the Licensing Act. Make sure you get hold of a copy of your local council's licensing policy and read it carefully. We will be giving some advice on what to look for and how to handle the application in later articles.
There are a number of things you should know that may influence your decision as to when to apply for your licences.
- The anniversary date for both a personal and premise licence is the date on which they are granted, not the date on which they became effective which is the second appointed day.
- This is particularly important for the premises licence as the annual fee becomes payable on the anniversary of the date the licence is granted. Applications made at the beginning of March would normally be granted at the beginning of May. The annual fee would then be payable in May 2006, when your licence would only have been in effect from November, only six months later.
- The same timing applies to your personal licence except that the renewal is 10 years hence and a few months either way is much less significant.
- Fees payable for a premises licence are based on your rateable value as at the date of application. Up to April 5 your current rating applies. Thereafter the new rateable value applies. You could save some money by applying before April 5.
- All licences that are granted by the conversion process (i.e. your "grandfather rights") must be granted within two months from application. If they are not dealt with by the licensing authority they are automatically granted.
- The same is not true when you apply for a variation of that licence e.g. for longer trading hours, permission to have live music etc. If these are not dealt with by the licensing authority within two months the variation is "deemed refused" and you must apply to the Magistrates Court for them to be dealt with. This could cause a delay in the system and the later you apply the more chance there is of such variations not being processed by November.
- While you will still be able to open you will not be able to take advantage of any of the additional facilities you have applied for until they are determined by the courts. We would strongly advise you, therefore, not to wait until the last moment. Unless you have reason to think that your personal licence application is going to be problematic, because you have a conviction for a "relevant offence", the same does not apply to an application for a personal licence.
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