Supervision at kids' club

Q We have a children's activity club which meets on Sunday mornings when the bar is closed. Someone has now suggested that it is illegal for children to be dropped off for this event, as they are not "accompanied" on the premises. Is this true?

A No, it isn't. Fortunately the wording of the new Licensing Act is very clear on this point. The fact that the bar is closed is sufficient to remove the restriction.

Section 145 of the Act states that a person commits an offence if he allows an unaccompanied child (under 16) to be in the part of the premises exclusively or primarily used for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises.

But the offence can only be committed "at a time when (the premises) are open for the purposes of being used for the supply of alcohol for consumption there". If you have not opened the bar, then there can be no offence.

In any case, I am sure that the activity club has someone in charge of what happens, and that the parents have handed the children over to their care. This means, in effect, that they are not unaccompanied, as nothing in the Act says that the accompanying adult has to be a parent. It can be a teacher, a coach or manager (of a football team) or some other responsible adult.

There is no requirement for each child to be accompanied by an adult. The object is to prevent those under 16 from wandering into a pub on their own, which was not illegal under the old law, but rarely happened. The House of Lords found the idea quite horrific, so this idea of requiring accompaniment - and yet another rule for the licensee to follow - was introduced into the new Act.