Pubs to get chance of last-minute TENs

Police will be able to give pubs the green light for a temporary event notice (TEN) three days before an occasion, under new plans announced by the government today.

The measure is among proposals unveiled by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) designed to cut red tape.

Under the plans, the police would be able to give the green light to a late TEN, where there are no crime and disorder issues.

The government is proposing the "absolute minimum" notice period should be three working days, as opposed to the current deadline of 10 days. But police will have two working days, instead of 48 hours, to object.

The DCMS is also proposing to extend the deadline for relatives and business partners of a licence-holder who dies, is incapable or becomes insolvent.

The previous deadline for this was seven days, highlighted in a distressing case in April last year, involving the Dyffryn Arms, in Neath, South Wales.

The DCMS claims licensees and councils could save up to £24m a year as a result of the changes, which will see the Licensing Act being amended.

Licensing minister Gerry Sutcliffe said his department wanted to "remove as much red tape as possible for those organising temporary events".

He added: "For those that carry a low risk, we want to give the police a power to be more flexible when temporary event notices are submitted late.

"Most of these measures have been put forward to us by the industry and the proposals today show that we have listened."

The DCMS also wants to remove the requirement for councils to revise and republish their licensing policy statement every three years, replacing it with a requirement to keep the policy up-to-date.

This means councils would only have to consult groups and organisations affected by a revision, rather than the full list of required consultees.

It said this would cut down on trade groups having to comment on "hundreds" of licensing statements at once.

A 10-week consultation has been launched on the proposals, which can be viewed here​. The deadline for submissions is February 9, 2010.