Responsibility for the licensing of the sale of alcohol, regulated entertainment and late night refreshment falls to licensing authorities.
The licensing authorities (with the exception of the Inner and Middle Temples) must establish dedicated licensing committees in order to carry out their functions. This brought six licensing regimes under the responsibility of a single authority.
The activities of the licensing authorities are governed by the promotion of the four licensing objectives. Licensing authorities are obliged to publish a statement of licensing policy every three years, which sets out how they exercise their functions. In carrying out their functions, licensing authorities must also have regard to the statutory Guidance to Licensing Authorities and Police issued by the Secretary of State. These measures ensure clarity and consistency across all authorities in England and Wales. The central setting of fees also helps ensure a level playing field.
The procedures, established by and under the Act, ensures thorough, professional and expert scrutiny of every licence application. Expert bodies, such as the police, fire authorities, and others, must be notified of every application for a new premises licence, club premises certificate or variation of existing licences or certificates. These bodies, along with such people that the licensing authority considers to be representative of: local residents and businesses in the area, holders of premises licences, personal licenses and club premises certificates, where all consulted when this licensing authority framed its policy.
In relation to decisions about licence and club premises certificates applications, the licensing authority's discretion only comes into play in cases where representations are made by interested parties and responsible authorities.
Rights to appeal to the magistrates' court, in respect of decisions of the licensing authority, are provided by the Act. The various rights are set out in Schedule 5 to the Act. The Act makes it easier for licensing authorities to act in the interests of local residents against poorly performing premises.
Local residents are able to make relevant representations or seek a review in respect of an authorisation for a particular premises. The introduction of a flexible range of measures, following a review of premises, enables authorities to take firm and appropriate action, either to do nothing or to revoke the licence. The licensing authority has powers not only to suspend or revoke licences, but to exclude certain licensable activities and to change conditions attached to the licence, where this is necessary, on the grounds of any of the four licensing objectives.
The main licensing authorities, as defined in the Act, are:
The Act also specifies that the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple and Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temples, the Common Council of the City of London and with the Council of the Isles of Scilly will be licensing authorities for their respective jurisdictions.
Licensing authorities can issue premises licences, club premises certificates, temporary event notices in their area, as well as personal licences for residents and renewals of personal licences for those who had previously applied for a personal licence while resident in the licensing authority's area.
It is a duty of all licensing authorities to carry out their functions under the Act with a view to promoting the four licensing objectives, which are:
The four licensing objectives ensure that the carrying on of licensable activities are done in the public interest.
In discharging their functions under the Act, the licensing authority must also have regard to its licensing policy, which sets out how it intends to exercise its functions. The licensing policy statement is drafted every three years by each licensing authority following consultation.
Section 182 of the Act provides that Guidance to Licensing Authorities and Police must be issued by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State issued the Guidance on July 7, 2004. Each licensing authority must have regard to the Guidance.
Every three years, a licensing authority must determine its licensing policy and publish a statement of that policy (known as a licensing statement) prior to the beginning of the period. Before determining their policy, local authorities must consult the following:
The policy must be kept under review during the three year period, with any revisions (following consultation with the parties listed above) published, either as a statement of the revisions, or as a revised licensing statement.
All licensing authorities must keep a register containing a record of personal licences, premises licences and club premises certificate issued and temporary events notices received by them. The form of such records will be set in secondary legislation.
You can inspect the register of licences here.
Each licensing authority (with the exception of the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple or the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple) must have a licensing committee of between 10 and 15 members. They can form one or more licensing sub-committees of at least three members.
The licensing committee may delegate its functions to a sub-committee or, for some functions, to an officer of the licensing authorities.
There are existing measures and mechanisms in place in other legislation in respect of the way in which local authorities discharge their functions which ensure that where it is improper for an individual to be involved in a licensing decision, then self-disqualification would take place.
The Secretary of State may issue regulations under the Act regarding the following:
The Secretary of State may also make regulations about hearings.
All other procedural matters are a matter for each licensing authority to determine at a local level having regard to its duties under other local government legislation.
The Act provides for applications to be considered by licensing authorities where representations are received from interested parties (local residents and businesses) or responsible authorities (such as the police, fire, health and safety and environmental health officers). Local authorities has the power, for example, to refuse to grant the licence, exclude from the scope of the licences licensable activities such as entertainment comprising live bands, or modify the conditions of the licence by, for example, restricting opening hours. These steps can be taken if it is considered necessary to promote the licensing objectives of the Act.
Where no representations are made, it is only right that a licence application should be dealt with as quickly and as simply as possible as an administrative procedure.
Under the Act, an applicant for a premises licence must submit an operating schedule, setting out certain details about the activities to be carried out. If no relevant representations are made by either responsible authorities (such as the police, the fire authority) or interested parties (such as local residents) then the licensing authority must grant the licence application, subject only to conditions which are consistent with the operating schedule and to mandatory conditions.
In cases where relevant representations are made, the Act makes it clear that licensing authorities may only attach conditions to a licence that are mandatory and consistent with the operating schedule, modified to the extent the authority considers necessary for the promotion of one or more of the licensing objectives.
Part 2 of the Licensing Act 2003 (External website**)
**Please note: High Peak Borough Council is not responsible for the content of any external websites.