Cans from nearby shop

Q We have an off-licensed grocery shop near our premises and its operators do not seem to worry about who they sell to. As a result young people, some clearly under age, gather at the side of the pub, opposite the shop, to chat to their mates and drink cans that have not been purchased from me. Can the shop be prosecuted, because they must know what is happening? A The vital aspect of this question, of course, is to establish that the drinking did take place with some form of collusion, encouragement or inactivity on the part of the licence-holder who sold the alcohol in question. Section 164 of the Licensing Act states that if persons purchase alcohol from an off-licence and then drink it on or near the premises with the "privity or consent" of the licence-holder, then he or she shall be guilty of an offence. The section does not create an absolute offence, so that the mere fact that persons are found drinking near off-licensed premises will not, in itself, render the other licensee liable to prosecution. There are three areas where care and supervision must be exercised by the holder of the licence:

1. In the licensed shop itself;

2. In premises which adjoin or are near the shop and which are either under the control of the licence-holder, or are used with his permission;

3. On a highway adjoining or near those premises I confess to finding it difficult to see how a prosecution could reasonably be sustained under 3 above, because the conduct of young men on the streets, for example, cannot be subject to the control or connivance of an individual licence-holder. But clearly in the example which you give, if it could be shown that the area near your pub and the grocery shop was used for drinking on more than one occasion by local youngsters, and that the licensee had taken no steps to deter them or order them to leave, then a prosecution might succeed. There would also be the question of under-age sales. Clubs and entertainment Q Under the new system, will social clubs have to have an entertainment licence? A Not exactly, but entertainment in clubs will indeed be regulated under the new law, even if it is not now. In future, a club premises certificate will cover both the supply of alcohol to members and guests (currently covered by a registration certificate) and the provision of "regulated entertainment". The same certificate will cover both activities, in the same way that a premises licence will cover pub alcohol sales and pub entertainment. Under the present system, social clubs such as workingmen's clubs and sports clubs do not need any permission to run entertainment, because it is private. They only need a local authority licence or certificate if either they are open to the public, or they are applying for a special hours certificate ­ the late-night extension. This is fairly rare, so most clubs run entertainment, including bands and dances, without any form of local authority control, other than, of course, if they cause a nuisance. So clubs will have to find out exactly what form of entertainment is covered by the new Act and then put it on their application form for the club premises certificate. This means that if they want to add new forms of entertainment, they will have to apply for a variation of their club operating schedule to include them.