Licensing@aol.com

Declaring a personal licence

Q When I was in court recently as a

witness, I saw an ex-colleague who was charged with an offence involving assault. I am sure he was a licensee, but he did not say so, being described as

unemployed. If he holds a personal

licence, doesn't he have to declare it?

AIt is a legal obligation for anyone who holds a personal licence to produce it to the court when they are charged with a "relevant offence", as listed in the Licensing Act 2003. It therefore depends on the circumstances of the offence whether or not the holding of a licence has to be declared.

You do not know for certain whether he holds a personal licence, if he was previously a licensee under the old regime. Not everyone who ran a pub in the past was actually licensed at the time of transition, and it may be that he was already out of the trade in 2005. In any event, not everyone knows the actual list of offences, although crimes involving violence to the person are certainly among those deemed to be relevant. It is not an obligation of the police or of court officials to ask every defendant whether they hold a personal licence, although there has been a move in some areas to list it as a question to be answered prior to a court appearance.

Fixing your own hours

QSome time ago, you answered a question about times for serving alcohol when someone put their hours on a board outside their premises. We have been told that if we want to serve longer on a regular basis we must notify the police and the licensing authority.

AAs I have commented before, the only times which have true legal significance are those contained in your premises licence. These may be longer than you normally wish to open, but may have been requested in order to cater for special events or for periods when trade is better and you need the extra time.

It is, therefore, surprising that you have been asked to make prior contact with the authorities simply because you wish to adjust the actual opening times. It is not a legal requirement to do this, and seems to defeat the object of having flexible hours in the first place.

Any external advertisement merely signifies what you want it to — that those are your usual hours of opening during this month. If for any reason you wish to change them on a particular evening, you may do so - that is what flexibility is all about.

As far as prosecution is concerned, you need have no fear that the board will bind you to a more restricted set of "permitted hours". You have been licensed for longer hours. Serving a customer after the time you have set yourself is not illegal, any more than it would have been under the old law to serve someone in the afternoon when you normally closed at 3pm.