Following its consultation in the summer, the Government has announced its final proposals to overhaul licensing law in England and Wales.  The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill which includes most of these proposals, received its First Reading in the House of Commons on 30 November 2010. We take an in-depth look at what’s in it. Today, we consider the proposals on Temporary Event Notices (TENs).

temporary event notices

Temporary Event Notices (TENs) face a radical overhaul as a result of the Bill.

bad news

new objectors

In addition to sending your TEN application to the Licensing Authority and the Police, in future you will also need to give a copy of it to the local authority with statutory functionsd relating to “minimising or preventing the risk of pollution of the environment or of harm to human health”, in other words your local Environmental Health Officer (EHO). Currently, the Police may only object to a TEN if they believe it would undermine the crime prevention objective. In future, both the Police and the EHO will be able to object to a TEN if they believe the event would undermine any of the licensing objectives. They will now have three working days to object to an application.

premises licence conditions may apply

The Licensing Authority is also given power in the Bill to impose conditions it considers appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives if they are imposed on a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate that has effect at the premises where the TEN is to be held, on receipt of a notice of objection from either the Police or the EHO. Notwithstanding the requirement that a Licensing Authority must give the applicant for the TEN a notice of any conditions imposed, it appears to us those conditions cannot be imposed until a hearing is held to consider the objection notice from the Police or EHO, which does at least give the applicant the opportunity to make representations concerning the proposed conditions.

good news

less paper

As with the deregulation which took place earlier in the year, applicants will now be able to apply for TENs through a relevant electronic facility to the Licensing Authority who will themselves then be responsible for distributing the application to the Police and EHO.

more time

The Bill proposes to relax the time limits applying to TENs by increasing the maximum time a TEN can cover from 96 hours (four days) to 168 hours (seven days) and by allowing TENs to cover up to twenty-one days (up from fifteen days) in any one calendar year.

a “slip rule” of sorts

The trade has been crying out for a process to apply “late” (i.e. less than 10 working days before the event) for a TEN and the Bill contains this. A TEN received between five and nine working days before the event will be classed as a “late Temporary Event Notice”. If no objections are received, then the application will be granted. If objections are received, then the “lateness” of the application means the applicant will lose their entitlement to a hearing and will simply be issued with a counter notice by the Licensing Authority preventing the event from taking place. You should also note that giving a late Temporary Event Notice  may affect your ability to apply for further TENs later in the calendar year. Personal Licence Holders will be prevented from applying for any further TENs if they have given at least fifty TENs or ten late TENs. This falls to five TENs or two late TENs for non-Personal Licence Holders.

What do you think? Are these proposals good or bad news for your your business? Please leave your comments below

If you have any queries relating to this article, please contact either Lisa Croft, Michael Parrott or Rob Westwood-Payne on 01242 285855 or email us.

As this information has been prepared by Maitland Walker LLP as a general guide, we recommend you seek specific professional advice before acting on any information contained within it. No liability can be accepted by Maitland Walker LLP for any action taken or not taken as a result of this information.

Maitland Walker LLP is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.