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Alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment

The Licensing Act 2003 (the Act) makes local authorities responsible for the licensing of alcohol, certain types of entertainment and late-night refreshment.

The latest version of our Statement of Licensing Policy can be viewed below under the heading Policies and Guidance.

The activities that require a Licence and are governed by the act are:

  • Performance of a play
  • Exhibition of film
  • Indoor sporting events
  • Boxing or wrestling entertainment
  • Live music performance
  • Playing of recorded music
  • Performance of dance
  • Provision of late-night refreshment (hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am)
  • Sale or supply of alcohol

The purpose of the Act is to modernise the legislation governing licensable activities so that various pieces of existing legislation are brought under a single Act, licensing decisions are made according to local considerations, and that licensing hours are deregulated (that is, the previous restrictions on the hours when alcohol could be sold have been removed).

The Act provides for four different types of authorisation or permission as below:

  • Premises Licence – to use premises for licensable activities
  • Club Premises Certificate – to allow a qualifying club to engage in qualifying club activities
  • Temporary Event Notice – to carry out licensable activities at a temporary event
  • Personal Licence – to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol from a premises in respect of which there is a premises licence

Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates do not carry an expiry date, they are indefinite licences. However, there is an annual fee due against a licence/certificate and the fee becomes due on the anniversary of the date the licence/certificate was issued.

The Licensing Service issue annual fee reminder letters each year. Failure to pay the fee will result in the licence/certificate being suspended, and licensable activities may not take place until the fee is paid.

Guidance on applying and requirements can be found in each relevant subsection of this page (thumbnails above). All application forms, alongside full guidance forms, can be found at the end of each section. Fees and charges can be found at the bottom of this page.

Policies, Guidance, and Fees