Premise Licence Applications

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If premises are to be used for any one, or a mixture of licensable activities a licence needs to be in place. An application can take up to eight weeks to process. Twenty eight days are allowed for representations to be received, and a further twenty working days for these representations to be resolved either mutually or by a committee.

The forms have been designed by central government, to be used nationally, whilst we would encourage you to use our forms, we will accept any form that has the relevant information on it. The application form is also know as the 'Operating Schedule', this will indicate how the premises will be operated, both the activities undertaken and the hours open.

Applications for a Premises Licence, have to show within them that the four main objectives of the Licensing Act have been addressed.  These are:

• The Prevention of Crime and Disorder
• Public Safety
• Prevention of a Public Nuisance
• Protection of Children from Harm

There are two types of premises applications variation and new.

Variation

Having obtained a ‘New’ Licence this can then be altered by seeking a variation to the licence. The variation application has to be sent to all Responsible Authorities for their comments. If approved the new licence is then granted with new conditions.

New:premise

As the name implies where an application is for a new premise or the premise seeks a radical change in the operating conditions they currently enjoy, then applications will have to be by way of a ‘New’ application. The Council will seek to deal with new applications within the same timescales as variations.

Applications for a premises licence take the following format:

1. a nationally designed application form
2. a plan of the premises
3. the fee
4. a consent form from a personal licence holder to be the designated premises supervisor.

New and variation premises applications have to be determined within 40 working days (generally this means eight weeks).  Failure by the Authority to determine these within this period will lead to an automatic refusal in most instances. Kingston Council will also aim to process new applications within this time scale as well.  It is very important that applicants make themselves readily  available to be contacted, particularly during the last four weeks of the life of an application, as this is the period during which, if representations are made, negotiations can be undertaken to negate the necessity of a hearing.  Because of the limitations within the Act, hearings if required, have to be arranged at short notice, and these could take place in the absence of the applicant.  This could seriously disadvantage the application.

The Form

Part 1  This requires the details of where the premises are situated and the current non-domestic rateable value of the premises.
Part 2  This is a tick box and is self-explanatory directing you to supplementary Parts A) to L).
Part 3  The first question only arises for those applications who wish their application to start on a specific date in the future past the Second Appointed Date.  The second part of this question is for Licensable events of limited duration.

All variation and new applications are required to be advertised.

Tables A to H

These ask you to specify the ‘standard timings’ that a licensable activity will take place, along with seasonal variations and ‘non standard timings’.  Careful consideration needs to be given to this, as extensions to permitted hours will become the exception rather than the rule.  By examining your operating practice over the past few years a pattern will emerge, then consider how you would wish this to develop over the coming years and this should direct you to the type and scale of operation you would wish to run.  It is likely that a blanket application to open until 03:00 hours each day will bring representations from many sources.  An application that indicates a standard terminal hour of, for example midnight, with Friday and Saturday nights till 01:00 hours is much less likely to attract such vociferous representations.  The last table asks for the hours the premises are open to the public thus allowing for “drinking up time” or “quiet time” prior to the premises closing.

The penultimate section asks to ‘describe the steps you intend to take to promote the four licensing objectives’. The four objectives are:

• ·The Prevention of Crime and Disorder
• ·Public Safety
• ·Prevention of a Public Nuisance
• ·Protection of Children from Harm

Whilst there are just four small boxes, along with a general one, it is expected that each objective will require more space than this to address the particular issue.  Within this publication you will find guidance as to what each ‘Responsible Authority’ will be looking for in addressing the objectives.  It is strongly advised that if you are in doubt about a particular issue you seek guidance from the respective authority, before the submission of your application.