Licensing considerations for UK hospitality at Christmas

For UK hospitality businesses, the festive season is a vitally important revenue-driver, but it is important for those businesses to understand how to extend operating hours to capitalise on festive celebrations and maximise profits without breaching premises licence conditions. The position is different in this regard across the UK.

England and Wales

In order to extend operating hours, businesses within England and Wales must apply to their local authority for a Temporary Events Notice (TEN), which will enable them to temporarily extend the licensable activity of the premises.

TENs can be used to amend a variety of provisions given on normal premises licences, including to extend the period within which a business is permitted to sell alcohol and hot food by a normal licence and stay open later than is usually authorised. The application process for TENs is far more straightforward than applying for a full premises licence and TENs can be used to provide businesses with the flexibility to capitalise on one-off events or special promotions.

A TEN application can only be made by an individual and not by an organisation. The individual applying for a TEN must be over 18 years old. Notice of 10 clear working days must be given for a TEN or, in the event of a late temporary event notice, at least five clear working days’ notice must be given. If applying online, a copy of the TEN will be sent to the police and the environmental health agency by the local authority.

A separate TEN will be required for each event held on the same premises and a maximum of five TENs can be given by a local authority within each calendar year. If an individual already possesses a personal licence to sell alcohol, they can be given up to 50 TENs in a calendar year.

With regards to late TENs, a person not holding a personal licence can submit up to two per year whereas an individual with a personal licence can submit up to 10 late TENs per year. Late TENs count towards the total number of TENs which are permitted within a calendar year.

A single premises can have up to 15 TENs a year, as long as the total period the events cover is not more than 21 days.

During a TEN, a premises must have fewer than 500 people on the site at any one time – a number which includes the staff operating the business. Each TEN must last no more than 168 hours, or seven days.

A local authority cannot reject a TEN application unless the police or the environmental health agency object to it. This objection must be raised within three working days and any objection would have to be on the basis that the police or the environmental health agency believe the event could:

• lead to crime and disorder;
• cause a public nuisance;
• result in public safety being threatened; or
• put children at risk of harm.

To avoid an event leading to crime and disorder, resulting in public safety being threatened or putting children at risk of harm, businesses should conduct thorough risk assessments to identify security threats and vulnerabilities. Moreover, businesses should ensure that robust security measures are implemented and that they provide training for all staff to implement security protocols and emergency procedures.

To avoid causing a public nuisance, businesses should monitor and control noise levels as well as implement effective crowd control measures, such as limiting the number of attendees and managing entry and exit points from the premises.

The giving of a TEN can also be used when a premises wants to use an area that is not usually used for a licensable activity, such as a garden or a car park. If a temporary structure is being used outside for an outside event, and that area is unlicensed, then a TEN could be the answer – depending on factors such as the size or length of the event, among others.

Northern Ireland

Permitted hours for the sale of alcohol in licensed premises are set out in the order made by the court at the time of granting of the licence. The licence holder cannot seek to extend those hours on a temporary basis solely by reason of it being the festive season.

For certain premises, an application can be made to the courts to obtain an order granting additional permitted hours. If such an order is granted, it would have permanent effect, so extra consideration should be given when determining whether to make an application in these circumstances. It is also possible to make an application for an extension licence where premises already have an order declaring them suitable for functions.

An occasional licence enables certain existing licence holders to sell alcohol at places other than their designated licenced premises. This form of licence is primarily granted to enable businesses to sell alcohol at functions and events. Again, this requires an application to the court.

Scotland

Each of the licensing boards in Scotland has a statement of licensing policy, usually available on its website. Those policies will indicate the operating hours likely to be approved by the board and may include a section on the festive period. Alternatively, at a board meeting in late summer or early autumn, the board will agree the approved hours for the festive period. For example, this may be additional hours from early December to early January.

If a premises licence holder’s operating plan includes reference to the festive period in the seasonal variations section, then the additional hours will apply automatically. In that case, no further application is necessary. In the unlikely event seasonal variations do not apply, the operator will need to apply for extended hours. The timescales and process vary from board to board, so it is advisable to check the board’s website.

Some boards may authorise a general extension, say for Christmas Eve and Hogmanay, and in that event no application is necessary.