A Premises licence is required by any premises which provides one or more of the “licensable activities”. Premises is defined as meaning, “any place and includes a vehicle, a vessel or moveable structure”. Such a licence will allow the licence holder to use the premises to which the licence relates ("the licensed premises") for licensable activities.
The premises licence will set out in detail the operating conditions. The purpose of these conditions is to regulate the use of the premises for licensable activities in line with the licensing objectives. A premises licence has effect until the licence is revoked or surrendered, but otherwise is not time limited unless the applicant requests a licence for a limited period. A premises licence does not have effect during any period of suspension.
Representations concerning an application for a premises licence can be submitted by the following:-
- Local residents and businesses or their representative bodies, the police, the fire authority and specified bodies.
To qualify as a relevant representation the representation must concern the likely effect of the grant of the premises licence on the promotion of the licensing objectives and be made within the prescribed time period. The Council may decide not to consider representations made where they are considered to be frivolous or vexatious but if such a decision is made the person who submitted the representations must be notified of the reasons for that decision. If the licence is granted, the same classes of persons may seek a review of the premises licence and the conditions attached to it.
When submitting an application an applicant must provide the following:
- an operating schedule
- a plan of the premises in a prescribed form
- where alcohol is to be sold, a form of consent given by the designated premises supervisor (a designated premises supervisor could be the applicant but in the case of premises owned by large companies is likely to be the premises manager)
- the application fee
There are exemptions from the need to obtain a licence for incidental music and, in certain circumstances, for unamplified, live music in small venues with a capacity of less than 200 persons.
Application Forms
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