TV in licensed premises – what you need to know

Posted by Andrew Bartlett Oct 19th, 2011, in Licensing

The recent court case involving a Portsmouth landlady’s bid to be able to show live Premier League football via foreign satellite channels, has once again thrown the spotlight on the rules for broadcasting televised events in licensed premises.

When Karen Murphy decided that her satellite TV subscription for showing Premier League games was too expensive, she used a cheaper Greek decoder in her pub to show the games, a practice which is prohibited in the television deals agreed with UK broadcasters Sky Sports and ESPN.

Despite being fined, she appealed to the European Court of Justice which ruled that national laws prohibiting the import, sale or use of foreign decoder cards are contrary to the freedom to provide services under European Law.

However, before you pick up the phone to cancel your Sky Sports subscription, it’s worth noting what else the ECJ said in relation to the ruling. (more…)

Be proactive in obtaining a late licence

Posted by Andrew Bartlett Sep 1st, 2011, in Licensing

There’s been a lot of concern recently with regard to ‘late licences’ and a number of premises have had their Premises Licences reviewed as a result of complaints, usually noise emanating from the premises and, in particular, outside the premises.

A major ethos behind the Licensing Act 2003 was partnership – the Premises Licence holder, police, environmental health, the licensing authority and the public working together for the common good.

This is excellent in theory, but difficult to put into practice because of conflicting interests – the licence holder wants his customers to be happy and come back, but the local residents, and licensing authorities seeking to protect the residents, want peace and quiet.

The solution to this from a licence holder’s point of view is being willing to compromise and being reasonable, but more importantly being seen to be reasonable. (more…)

Obtaining a Temporary Event Notice

Posted by Andrew Bartlett May 27th, 2011, in Licensing

The general rule is that only licensed premises can sell alcohol, for example, pubs, clubs, and supermarkets, but there are times when you want to run an event away from such venues – a village hall, a marquee in the garden, or a village fete.

Such events can be licensed by a Temporary Event Notice (affectionately known as a ‘TEN’).  In theory, the procedure is relatively simple – you fill in a form, post it off with the appropriate cheque and, provided that the police do not foresee any problems with the event, the TEN is granted.  There is no qualification needed to apply for a TEN (but there are limits on the number that you can apply for) and anyone over the age of 18 can apply.

In practice the process is a more complicated. To start with the form can appear quite complex and it’s not unusual for one off applications made by the public to be delayed due to errors, potentially putting events under threat. Secondly, it always pays to check that the police are not likely to object. This can usually be done with a single phone call, but it can be off-putting to voluntarily speak to the police. (more…)

Rebalancing the Licensing Act

Posted by Andrew Bartlett Aug 16th, 2010, in Licensing

The coalition has issued a consultation paper with a view to “rebalancing” the Licensing Act.

In my opinion, only three major matters need addressing – first, the smoking ban (which will never be changed) and, secondly, supermarkets selling alcohol at ridiculously low prices (which is outside the remit of the consultation and will be dealt with elsewhere). Third, the problem of underage sales is a major concern to licensees, the police and politicians alike. Something needs to be done but I’m not convinced that placing the burden almost entirely on the licence holder is the way forward.

The rest of the consultation paper would be better named “retinkering” the Licensing Act!

However, there are some good ideas, particularly making the local authority a responsible authority. Most (if not all) of the officers that I deal with at the licensing authority know what they are talking about and apply that knowledge tempered with true local knowledge. They know what is good for the whole area and for specific localities and it’s only proper they have some say in what conditions are necessary on any licence.

Contrary to this is involvement of local health bodies. It is proposed to make them a responsible authority and give them more involvement. Their views are important with regard to the whole area but will be very limited with regard to the majority of individual applications.

The paper acknowledges that “there are numerous instances of local businesses working with the police and others to reduce alcohol related harm whilst promoting their own interests” but offers no credit for this and suggests that fees globally be set “to reflect the costs of policing the late night economy” meaning good operators will pay as much as bad ones.

In theory, the proposal to “ensure that licensing authorities are given the freedom to respond to the needs of their local community in determining when premises can sell alcohol” is a good one but I fear election promises may be made more on political grounds than licensing ones – we are all human! There is also the fear that decisions will be made on a subjective basis as opposed to an objective one causing major inconstancies in differing locations.

Five questions you need to ask about your license

Posted by Communications Director May 24th, 2010, in Licensing

There are still more than 40 pubs closing every week and the licensed trade is now a question of survival of the fittest. 

There is room for improvement in every business – but is your current premises licence holding you back? 

Consider the questions below and consider whether it is worth applying to vary your licence. 

1. Can you open for all the hours that you and your customers want – during the week, at weekends and at Bank Holidays?
2. Are there any special dates when you would like to open for longer – Bank holiday weekends, Burns Night, Valentines Night, St. Patrick’s Day, St. George’s Day, Halloween, ‘A’ level results night, over the Christmas period, New Year’s Eve?
3. If you ever thought of applying for Temporary Event Notices – could these events be included within your license?
4. Does your license allow regulated entertainment and (if so) can you provide all the regulated entertainment that you and your customers want (for example, can you hold pool / darts competitions)?
5. Can you do anything to minimise the effect of the smoking ban? 

If you decide that you do not want to vary your license – that is fine, you have what you want/need but we would suggest that you repeat the exercise every so often in case any of your answers change. If you decide that you may want to vary your Licence – give Andrew Bartlett a call and we can have a chat either over the phone or at our offices.