Clubs caught out by new law
While the new Licensing Act was going through its parliamentary stages, I drew attention to the different, more restricted status of what were then registered members' clubs. Initially, the intention was to dispense with club registration entirely (as they are going to do in Scotland) but there was a considerable lobbying effort, so the differential was maintained by creating a club premises certificate under the 2003 Act.
But what was effectively removed at that time was the very useful section 49 of the old 1964 Act, which allowed genuine members' clubs to admit people other than members and guests and sell alcohol to them, subject to veto by the magistrates.
The new law has no such provision. If a club wants to sell alcohol to a group of non-members, it must either treat them as "guests" for the day or must make use of a Temporary Event Notice (TEN). If it wants to hire out its premises on a regular basis, the alternative is to seek a premises licence and have a Designated Premises Supervisor as well.
The first to realise the danger were the golf clubs, who then lobbied their MPs hard for clarification of what they could do with day visitors who just turned up to pay green fees, play and enjoy a drink at the 19th hole. The result has been a re-drafting of the statutory Guidance which strongly resembles the re-write in Animal Farm: all golfers are equal but some are more equal than others.
The Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) says it is now possible to have "guests of the club" as well as guests of members: nothing in the Act prevents their admission without prior notice.
Whether this applies to a social club hiring a function room to non-members is another matter. This could be taken to be providing commercial services to the public, which the revised Guidance considers contrary to qualifying club status. It appears such a club would need a premises licence, instead of or in addition to its certificate.
Matters came to a head recently in Stockport, when the licensing officer warned clubs to stop public hirings or risk prosecution. The quota of up to 12 TENs a year is hardly enough for many. Some head scratching to be done.
Note to subs: the word Guidance must be capped and italicised if poss., as it refers to a specific document
