Coping with kids at functions

There will always be difficulties with young people in pubs, it seems. One council has become worried about underage children attending functions, presumably considering that their mere presence will encourage juvenile consumption of alcohol. They have written to licensees to warn them about allowing bookings which may involve youngsters.

For the record, the law has never absolutely prohibited the presence of young people on premises where alcohol is being sold or consumed. Up until now, that is. If you can work out the wording, the new Licensing Act does in fact ban children under 16, if they are unaccompanied, from the whole of such premises between midnight and 5am.

This would not appear to be a mainstream prohibition, given that premises which are open at that time are not likely to be on the radar of under-16s out on their own, and there are other safeguards which come into play. But I suppose there might be a temporary event running until after midnight at which a youngster might be present on their own. Technically, like Cinderella, they have to head home when the clock strikes!

Under the old law, a licensee applying for an occasional licence or special order of exemption was often questioned by the justices about the presence of children. They took a dim view of extensions for 18th birthday parties, and often the police would make the point that such events could involve under-18s consuming alcohol.

But such events as wedding re-

ceptions and family birthdays or anniversaries will often quite rightly involve the presence of children. As long as the rules on selling to

under-18s or the purchase of alco-

hol on behalf of children by adults are adhered to, then the licensee should have no qualms about allowing such events.

Of course, at family events it would be quite exceptional if any child was described as "unaccompanied". The law says nothing at all about parents or guardians, or even for that matter relatives. The child under 16 must be accompanied by an adult if they are in an area of the pub "which is exclusively or primarily used for the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises".

Now this is where debates can occur. A function room is not necessarily within this definition, for although there may be a cash bar, it is a room for entertainment, social gatherings, a meal or other activities which take it out of the "exclusive or primary" use. The legislators were clearly thinking about an ordinary bar in this context, and this aspect of the ban does not really apply to other rooms, although the general after-midnight prohibition would.

Private functions​

But where a private function is concerned, consisting of a mixture of adults and children, no person under 16 there could be considered to be unaccompanied, even if their actual parents were not present. They are in the company of adults who presumably are in some ways responsible for their behaviour.

The evil the law intended to combat, if it existed, was in children walking into a pub on their own and asking to be served. In my experience that was an extremely uncommon occurrence, but the House of Lords in particular was worried that it could happen, so they decided to legislate against it!

Remember that in all this discussion, we are talking about the presence of children, not their purchase of alcohol, which remains illegal. In fact, if there is a wedding breakfast in the pub, children of 16 and 17 are permitted to drink alcohol — beer cider and wine (including champagne, of course) — with the meal under the terms of the Licensing Act. But they cannot buy it.