Licensing@aol.com
Displaying a premises licence
Q At long last I have got my premises licence. Is it this that has to be displayed in the bar, and where exactly must it go? Someone told me that it has to be readable from outside the premises.
A First of all, you should have received two documents, on several sheets of paper, depending on the way in which your local authority prepares things.
The first is the actual premises licence, which will usually consist of three or four pages with the hours for licensable activities, mandatory conditions and any other conditions added by the licensing committee. This does not need to be displayed, but it should be kept on the premises at all times.
The second part is described as a "Summary" of the whole licence, but several I have seen are nearly as long as the licence itself! This gives the basic licence information on hours and licensable activities, and also the name of the designated premises supervisor. In rare cases it may be on one side, but most seem to extend to at least two A4 sheets.
This must be posted up at the premises. The requirement of the Act is that it must be "prominently displayed" but there is no further definition of what this means. Certainly, there is no requirement that it should be visible from the outside, although I have heard that some licensing officers want it to be displayed at the main entrance so that it can be read on entry.
It is best to place it in some form of protective glass or laminate, so that it cannot be removed or defaced.
Is it covered already?
Q We are running a bar for a charity event at a public site in the centre of town. I read on the charity's website that the site has been licensed by the council. I checked with an officer and he said I would need a temporary event notice (TEN). I thought this was not required.
A The whole object of the Department for Culture Media & Sport (DCMS) encouraging local authorities to licence their own sites was to overcome this problem and make it easier for people to operate such events.
I can only think that the hours you want the bar to be open are longer than those which the council has already established. Otherwise, if the site already holds a premises licence, you can come in and sell under that authority. It defeats the object of council licensing if this is not possible and you have to use a temporary event notice instead.
Perhaps the officer has got it wrong. There is a list of council-licensed sites, together with details of the licensable activities granted, on the DCMS website.
