Christmas: Temporary Event Notice applications
It may only be November, yet my local radio station has already begun playing those ‘classic’ Christmas songs, an irrefutable sign the festive period is creeping closer.
Many of our clients look to make the most of this period by instructing us to apply for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) to allow their premises to extend trading hours or permit licensable activities (such as performance of films, live or recorded music, etc) beyond what is permitted on their premises licence.
However, as with any application, it is crucial to follow the correct procedure to avoid any issues with your application and disruption to planned events.
With this in mind, here are some tips to note when applying for a TEN:
Be clear on what you are applying for.
Applying for a TEN with the wrong times, dates or licensable activities is a common error.
For example, where your premises licence currently permits you to trade until midnight on a Friday and you wish to extend this to sell alcohol and provide recorded music until 3am the following morning, you must make it clear on the application the TEN would apply to extend sale of alcohol and regulated entertainment for Saturday morning — ie, midnight to 3am, not Friday morning.
A standard TEN should be received by the council at least 10 working days before the event, this excludes the day the notice is received and the first day of the event. Otherwise, if there are fewer than 10 working days before the event, you may be able to apply for a late TEN.
A late TEN must be received at least five working days before the event. If objections arereceived to a standard TEN, you are entitled to a hearing before the licensing committee. However, where an objection is received to a late TEN, the application is rejected and there is no right to a hearing.
Be clear as to who will be the individual applying for the TEN.
The TEN will be made in this individual’s name (commonly the designated premises supervisor). If, for whatever reason, the holder of the TEN is no longer employed at the premises, they are unlikely to agree to remain legally responsible for the event and you would need to reapply for the TEN (unless the individual agreed to sign a nomination notice consenting to another person being responsible).
It is best to ensure the individual who has applied for the TEN is still employed at the premises.
Premises can have up to 12 TENs per year, covering a total of 21 days. Any TEN cannot cover more than 168 hours (equivalent to one week) and there must be a gap of at least 24 hours between each event.
A personal licence holder can apply for 50 TENs per year, 10 of which can be late TENs, (non-personal licence holders can apply for five TENs per year, two of which can be late TENs).
Make sure that when applying for a TEN, both the premises and the individual applying has not exceeded their respective limits, otherwise the application will be rejected.
Each TEN application must be served on the licensing authority, police and environmental health. However, if an application has been made through the licensing authority’s online system, it will serve it to the police and environmental health on your behalf.
