Temporary Event Notice

If you wish to carry out a ‘licensable activity’ on unlicensed premises you will require a TEN.  You’ll also need a TEN if a particular licensable activity is not included in the terms of your existing premises licence, for example, holding a wedding reception at a community premises or the sale of alcohol later than the hours currently permitted by your licence (extension).

The process of applying is formally known as ‘serving’ a TEN.  A standard TEN must be given at least 10 clear working days before the event.  A late TEN must be given between 9 and 5 working days before the event.  These days do not include the day of the event or the day the authority receives the application.

You must be 18 years or older to give a TEN and if you are a personal licence holder, you can give a maximum of 50 TENs per year (10 of which can be “late”).  If you do not hold a personal licence you can give a maximum of five TENs per year (2 of which can be “late”).

A working day is classed as any day other than a Saturday, Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day, which is a bank holiday in England and Wales.

Please note – A TEN served on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday) is not received by the authority until the next working day, which becomes the day of service and cannot be included in your calculations of working days.

The Licensing Authority would prefer to receive TEN’s submitted at least 6 weeks in advance of the event but no earlier than 6 months.

If the premises where the event is to be held is in areas governed by two or more local authorities, applications must be made to each.

You can only apply for a TEN as an individual, not an organisation.

You must keep your TEN in a safe place when the event is held. You must also display a copy of the notice where it can be easily seen.

Limits

• You must be 18 years or over to apply
• Your event must involve no more than 499 people (including staff running and working at the event) at any one time and last no more than 168 hours (seven days) with a minimum of 24 hours between the finish of your event and the start of another Temporary Event Notice.
• You can only be given a maximum of five TENs per year if you do not hold a personal licence under the Licensing Act 2003.
• If you do hold a personal licence, you can give a maximum of 50 TENs per year, however you are limited to a maximum number of TENs per premises.
• The number of times a Temporary Event Notice may be given in respect of any particular premises – 15 times a calendar year.
• The maximum aggregate duration of the periods covered by Temporary Event Notices at any individual premises – 21 days per calendar year.

Applying for a Temporary Event Notice

The TEN costs £21. You will need a debit or credit card to pay the fee online.

Apply for a Temporary Event Notice ›

Objections

The police and environmental health team objection notice must be given before the end of the third working day following the day they received the temporary event notice.  They can object to the temporary event notice on the basis of any of the four licensing objectives.

If there is an objection from either the Police or Environmental Health team to a Late TEN, the event will not go ahead.  In these circumstances there is no scope for a hearing or the attaching of existing conditions.

Such cases might arise because of concerns about the scale, location, timing of the event or concerns about public nuisance.  However, in most cases, where (for example) alcohol is supplied away from licensed premises at a temporary bar under the control of a personal licence holder, (for example, at weddings or small social or sporting events) this should not give rise to the use of these powers.

Each of the police and environmental health team (as an authorised person) have the right under sections 109(5) and (6) of the 2003 Act to request the premises user to produce the TEN for examination.  If the police do not intervene when a TEN is given, they will still be able to rely on their powers of closure under Part 8 of the 2003 Act should disorder or noise nuisance be expected or arise.

If the police or environmental health team believe that allowing the premises to be used in accordance with the TEN will undermine the licensing objectives, they must give the premises user and the licensing authority an objection notice.

The police or local authority exercising environmental health functions may contact the premises user to discuss their objections and try to come to an agreement which will allow the proposed licensable activities to proceed.  The TEN can be modified.  If there is no agreement, the licensing authority must hold a hearing to consider the notice.

Counter Notice

Where permitted limits are exceeded the Licensing Authority will reject the application by issuing a Counter Notice to the premises user, a copy of which will also be sent to the Chief Officer of Police.

Where a standard TEN was given, the licensing authority must consider any objection at a hearing before a counter notice can be issued.

Committee Hearing

If the licensing authority receives an objection notice from the police or environmental health team that is not withdrawn, it must (in the case of a standard TEN only) hold a hearing to consider the objection (unless all parties agree that this is unnecessary).

The Licensing Sub-Committee may decide to allow the licensable activities to go ahead as stated in the notice.  If the notice is in connection with licensable activities at licensed premises, the licensing authority may also impose one or more of the existing licence conditions on the TEN (insofar as such conditions are not inconsistent with the event) if it considers that this is appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives.

If the authority decides to impose conditions, it must give notice to the premises user which includes a statement of conditions (a “notice (statement of conditions)”), and provide a copy to each relevant party.

Alternatively, it can decide that the event would undermine the licensing objectives and should not take place. In this case, the licensing authority must give a counter notice.

Modification of Notice following objection

At any time before a hearing is held or dispensed with, the Chief Officer of Police and/or Environmental Health Team may, with the agreement of the premises user, modify the temporary event notice by making changes to the notice returned to the premises user. The objection notice is therefore withdrawn from the time the temporary event notice is modified.

Replacement of Temporary Event Notice

Where a temporary event notice acknowledged under section 102 is lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, the premises user may apply to the licensing authority which acknowledged the notice (or, if there is more than one such authority, any of them) for a copy of the notice.

No application may be made under this section more than one month after the end of the event period specified in the notice.

The application must be accompanied by the £10.50 fee.

Where a licensing authority receives an application under this section, it must issue the premises user with a copy of the notice (certified by the authority to be a true copy) if it is satisfied that—

(a)     the notice has been lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, and

(b)     where it has been lost or stolen, the premises user has reported that loss or theft to the police.

The copy issued under section 110 must be a copy of the notice in the form it existed immediately before it was lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed.

The Licensing Act applies in relation to a copy issued under section 110 as it applies in relation to an original notice.

Withdrawal of notice

A temporary event notice may be withdrawn by the premises user giving the relevant licensing authority a notice to that effect no later than 24 hours before the beginning of the event period specified in the temporary event notice.  The fee already paid will not be refunded.

Appeals

If you disagree with the Licensing Committee’s decision, you can appeal to your local magistrates’ court.

You must do this in writing within 21 days, and at least five working days before the date of your event.

Fines and penalties

You could be fined if you make any false statements in your application, or face prosecution if you breach the terms of the notice.

If you don’t have a TEN and carry out an activity that you should have a licence for (or allow your premises to be used for one), you can be fined, sent to prison for up to six months, or both.

For more information, visit GOV.UK or email licensing@molevalley.gov.uk