Conditions attached to Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates
Conditions include any limitations or restrictions attached to a licence or certificate and essentially are the steps or actions that the holder of the premises licence or the club premises certificate will be required to take or refrain from taking in relation to the carrying on of licensable activities at the premises in question.
Failure to comply with any condition attached to a licence or certificate is a criminal offence, which on conviction is punishable by a fine of up to £20,000 or up to six months’ imprisonment.
There are three types of conditions that may be attached to a licence or certificate: mandatory, proposed, and imposed. Each of these categories are described in more detail below.
Mandatory conditions
Please Note: The mandatory conditions relating to irresponsible promotions, the provision of free water, the adoption and application of age verification policies, and the provision of small measures at licensed premises were amended as of 1st October 2014. These conditions relate to all relevant premises licences and club premises certificates which authorise the supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises, with the exception of the age verification condition, which will also apply to licences and certificates which permit the supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises.
A new mandatory condition 'Banning the sale of alcohol below the cost of duty plus VAT' came into effect on 28th May 2014, and this applies to all premises licences and club premises certificates authorising the sale of supply of alcohol.
Please see below for further information.
The Act provides for the following mandatory conditions to be included in every licence and / or certificate in the circumstances specified.
Supply of Alcohol
The following conditions came into force on 24th November 2005:
All sales/supplies of alcohol must be authorised by a personal licence holder.
Alcohol may not be sold or supplied at a time when there is no designated premises supervisor or, the designated premises supervisor does not hold a personal licence or his personal licence is suspended.
The following condition came into force on 28 May 2014:
1. A relevant person shall ensure that no alcohol is sold or supplied for consumption on or off the premises for a price which is less than the permitted price.
2. For the purposes of the condition set out in paragraph 1:
(a) “duty” is to be construed in accordance with the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979(6)
(b) “permitted price” is the price found by applying the formula:
P = D + (DxV)
where:
(i) P is the permitted price
(ii) D is the amount of duty chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the duty were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol, and
(iii) V is the rate of value added tax chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the value added tax were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol
(c) “relevant person” means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a premises licence:
(i) the holder of the premises licence
(ii) the designated premises supervisor (if any) in respect of such a licence, or
(iii) the personal licence holder who makes or authorises a supply of alcohol under such a licence
(d) “relevant person” means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity which enables the member or officer to prevent the supply in question, and
e) “valued added tax” means value added tax charged in accordance with the Value Added Tax Act 1994(7).
3. Where the permitted price given by Paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 would (apart from this paragraph) not be a whole number of pennies, the price given by that sub-paragraph shall be taken to be the price actually given by that sub-paragraph rounded up to the nearest penny.
4. (1) Sub-paragraph (2) applies where the permitted price given by Paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 on a day (“the first day”) would be different from the permitted price on the next day (“the second day”) as a result of a change to the rate of duty or value added tax.
(2) The permitted price which would apply on the first day applies to sales or supplies of alcohol which take place before the expiry of the period of 14 days beginning on the second day.
We are aware that the introduction of the above condition has caused some confusion within the trade across England, in particular in relation to the duty category of some specific products namely some high strength ciders. A number of trade / licensing associations have therefore produced some additional information to supplement the Home Office guidance, and this includes an expected price list for some key products.
The following conditions came into force on 1st October 2014:
1. (1) The responsible person must ensure that staff on relevant premises do not carry out, arrange or participate in any irresponsible promotions in relation to the premises.
(2) In this paragraph, an irresponsible promotion means any one or more of the following activities, or substantially similar activities, carried on for the purpose of encouraging the sale or supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises:
(a) games or other activities which require or encourage, or are designed to require or encourage, individuals to:
(i) drink a quantity of alcohol within a time limit (other than to drink alcohol sold or supplied on the premises before the cessation of the period in which the responsible person is authorised to sell or supply alcohol), or
(ii) drink as much alcohol as possible (whether within a time limit or otherwise)
(b) provision of unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee to the public or to a group defined by a particular characteristic in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective
(c) provision of free or discounted alcohol or any other thing as a prize to encourage or reward the purchase and consumption of alcohol over a period of 24 hours or less in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective
(d) selling or supplying alcohol in association with promotional posters or flyers on, or in the vicinity of, the premises which can reasonably be considered to condone, encourage or glamorise anti-social behaviour or to refer to the effects of drunkenness in any favourable manner
(e) dispensing alcohol directly by one person into the mouth of another (other than where that other person is unable to drink without assistance by reason of disability).
2. The responsible person must ensure that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available.
3. (1) The premises licence holder or club premises certificate holder must ensure that an age verification policy is adopted in respect of the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol.
(2) The designated premises supervisor in relation to the premises licence must ensure that the supply of alcohol at the premises is carried on in accordance with the age verification policy.
(3) The policy must require individuals who appear to the responsible person to be under 18 years of age (or such older age as may be specified in the policy) to produce on request, before being served alcohol, identification bearing their photograph, date of birth and either:
(a) a holographic mark, or
(b) an ultraviolet feature.
4. The responsible person must ensure that:
(a) where any of the following alcoholic drinks is sold or supplied for consumption on the premises (other than alcoholic drinks sold or supplied having been made up in advance ready for sale or supply in a securely closed container) it is available to customers in the following measures:
(i) beer or cider: ½ pint
(ii) gin, rum, vodka or whisky: 25 ml or 35 ml, and
(iii) still wine in a glass: 125 ml
(b) these measures are displayed in a menu, price list or other printed material which is available to customers on the premises, and
(c) where a customer does not in relation to a sale of alcohol specify the quantity of alcohol to be sold, the customer is made aware that these measures are available.”
In respect of irresponsible promotions the 'responsible person' should be aware of their moral and social responsibilities in ensuring that they refrain from offering any promotions that are designed to encourage people to drink excessive amounts of alcohol, or drink more than they normally would do. You are advised to consult either the Police Partnership Team or the Council’s Trading Standards and Licensing Section before proceeding with any drinks promotions.
Responsible persons are also reminded of other serious consequences of selling alcohol to a person who is drunk. Any person who knowingly (a) sells or attempts to sell alcohol to a person who is drunk, or (b) allows alcohol to be sold to such person, commits an offence under Section 141 of the Licensing Act.
Please note: The Council strongly supports the use of a ‘Challenge 25’ policy for all premises that supply alcohol.
Exhibition of Films
The Act provides that where a premises licence or club premises certificate authorises the exhibition of a film, it must include the following condition:
The following conditions came into force on 24th November 2005:
The admission of children under the age of 18 to film exhibitions permitted under the terms of this licence shall be restricted in accordance with any recommendations made:
a) By the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) where the film has been classified by that Board, or,
b) By the Licensing Authority where no classification certificate has been granted by the BBFC, or,
c) By the Licensing Authority where the Licensing Authority has notified the licence holder that section 20(3)(b) (or the holder of a club registration certificate that 74(3)(b)) of the Licensing Act 2003 applies to the film.
Door Supervision
The Act states that when a condition is included in a premises licence that at specified times an individual must be present at the premises to carry out a security activity the licence must also include the following condition:
The following conditions came into force on 24th November 2005:
Any person(s) who is/are employed to carry out a security activity must be licensed by the Security Industry Authority.
Proposed Conditions
The conditions that are appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives should emerge initially from the risk assessment carried out by a prospective licence or certificate holder, which they should carry out before making their application for a premises licence or club premises certificate. This would be translated into the steps recorded in the operating schedule or club operating schedule, which must also set out the proposed hours during which licensable activities will be conducted and any other hours during which the premises will be open to the public.
We have produced a document listing a number of 'model' conditions which can be applied to a premises licence / club premises certificate, by a Responsible Authority, or by a prospective licence or certificate holder. This document is not exhaustive, but does contain a comprehensive list of relevant / useful conditions which we consider will assist applicants when making applications.
Imposed Conditions
The licensing authority may not impose any conditions unless its discretion has been engaged following receipt of relevant representations (from a Responsible Authority) and it is satisfied as a result of a hearing (unless all parties agree a hearing is not necessary) that it is appropriate to impose conditions to promote one or more of the four licensing objectives.
The Trading Standards Team, as a responsible authority have provided a fact sheet which sets out practical guidance for applicants to assist them with promoting the licensing objective of protecting children from harm and ultimately avoiding underage sales of alcohol. The team regularly work with retailers in the borough to ensure they are aware of their responsibilities under the legislation and are equipped to prevent underage sales. The fact sheet outlines the measures that they recommend would promote the ‘protection of children from harm’ objective and as such you may wish to include them in your operating schedule when making your application.