Qualified in success
Nearly eight months into the new licensing laws, the role of the designated premises supervisor (DPS) has proved one of the more contentious and difficult issues thrown up by the 2003 Licensing Act. The DPS is undoubtedly pivotal to the government's concept of a liberalised licensing regime that while giving licensees the flexibility they want on opening hours, can also exert greater controls over the operation to ensure its carries out its social responsibilities.
Each premises licence must nominate a personal licence-holder to be its DPS -- in most cases this will be the person commonly regarded as the "publican". In effect, if anything goes wrong that requires the intervention of the authorities, it's this individual who carries the can - whether or not they happen at the pub at the time.
It's clear that the responsibilities of a DPS stretch wide - to anything, in fact, that might affect a pub's abilities to conform to the four licensing objectives that are the pillars of the Act:
- prevention of crime and disorder
- prevention of public nuisance
- public safety
- protection of children from harm.
It's a broad brief, and this week the BII Awarding Body has launched its National Certificate for Designated Premises Super-visors (NCDPS) to go some way towards arming the DPS for this challenging role.
"One target for the qualification are publicans who got their personal licence last year through grandfather rights, and didn't have to take a qualification in the new laws. But the NCDPS goes much further than the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) and has a more practical bias around implementation of the legislation rather than just trotting out the theory.
It's not the first qualification of its kind. The Confederation of Professional Licensees has been holding its own training for a National Diploma for Designated Premises Supervisors for several months.
Painstaking consultation
The BIIAB's contender has taken longer to get to market because it's the result of a painstaking consultation process with both the industry and the police - reassuringly the course handbook opens with an endorsement by Chris Allison of the Association of Chief Police Officers - and because it has been through a pilot and various changes to meet criticisms of those who tried it out.
The resulting handbook is a weighty publication that not only aims to cover everything a DPS might need to know to keep their pub - or other licensed premises - within the law, but also includes tests, practical exercises, case studies and useful documents.
And at the front there's a CD-RoM, an "operations review tool" which a DPS can use to assess the pub's effectiveness in meeting the licensing objectives and demonstrate due diligence.
It's a lot to take in on a one-day course, but the BII recommends candidates take the NCPLH first to provide them with a good start.
"We're really pleased with it," said Cathie Smith of the BIIAB. "It takes a completely different approach to our usual licensing qualifications giving people practical help that will be useful to their business as well as cover them on the legal aspects.
"The qualification is aimed at DPSs and potential DPSs, of course, but we also see it as being useful for pub company business development managers and area managers and for police."
What the NCDPS course covers
- Role and responsibilities of a DPS
- Licensable activities - alcohol and entertainment
- Crime and disorder - including door supervisors, CCTV, drugs and terrorism
- Protection of children and underage sales
- Other legislation - including gambling, weights and measures, smuggled goods, health and safety, smoking and employment law
- Risk assessments
- Social responsibility
Training centres
Training centres set their own price for an NCDPS course but the BIIAB is offering the exam itself, which consists of a multiple-choice paper, for the special price of £30 until the end of this year.
For more information on the NCDPS and a list of training centres go to www.biiab.org or phone 01276 684449.
