The Licensing Act 2003 changed the previous licensing systems for liquor, public entertainment and late night refreshment into a single licensing system. At the same time, it transferred the authority of liquor licensing from magistrate's court to local councils.
The new Licensing Act 2003 and the licences you need to apply for through Dover District Council.
This licence authorises the holder to use the premises to which the licence relates (the licensed premises) for licensable activities;
The premises licence details operating conditions, the purpose of which is to regulate the use of the premises for licensable activities, in line with the licensing objectives
The applicant should make an application to the authority in which the property in question is situated.
When submitting your premises licence application you must also submit copies of all current licences and a plan of the premises, drawn to a scale of 1:100. External areas 1:500, other scales may be accepted, but you should contact the Licensing Department first.
The fees are based on the Non Domestic Rateable Value of your premises. View fees.
Village/Church Halls and Schools that only provide regulated entertainment are exempt.
New and variation applications must also be advertised by the applicant in a local newspaper, a public notice must also be displayed on the premises. Advertisement example . Please refer to the Licensing Team if you are unsure about the content or placing of the notice.
If you are a late night refreshment house, ie; takeaway food outlet or restaurant and you serve hot food between the hours of 11pm and 5am, you will also require a premises licence, irrespective of whether or not you sell alcohol.
A limited class of people (called interested parties in the Act) and responsible authorities are able to make objections (called representations in the Act), to the grant or variation of a premises licence.
Once the licence has been granted, the same classes of persons and bodies may seek a review of the premises licence and conditions attaching to it, should they have concerns over the operation of the premises. More information on reviews.
A premises licence has effect until the licence is revoked or surrendered, but otherwise is not time limited unless the application requests a licence for a limited period.
Forms and fees
The certificate authorises a qualifying club to use club premises for qualifying club activities. The qualifying club activities are a subset of the licensable activities. They are:
As with premises licences, the right to make representations on the application for a club premises certificate is given to a limited range of persons and bodies - View Responsible Authorities.
A club premises certificate has effect until the licence is withdrawn, revoked or surrendered, but otherwise is not time limited.
The applicant should make an application to the authority in which the property in question is situated.
Forms and fees
This licence authorises an individual to sell or supply alcohol or authorise the sale or supply of alcohol for consumption on or off the premises for which a premises licence is in force for that activity.
To qualify:
If any of the above are not met, the application must be rejected.
The applicant should apply in the local authority area in which s/he lives and, once granted a personal licence will usually last for 10 years. Only the police may object to this type of application under the crime prevention objective. If they do so, then the authority must hold a hearing to consider the application and police objection.
For personal licences you are required to submit two passport sized photographs,one of which has been countersigned on the back, a CRB Certificate form(issued not more than one calendar month before the application is submitted to the licensing authority), a conviction declaration and your licensing qualification, along with your application.
Forms and fees
Further information is available at www.disclosurescotland.co.uk
After the licence has been issued:
any change of name or address must be notified in writing to the Licensing Authority which originally issued the licence.
If you are convicted of any relevant offences, you MUST tell the court that you hold a personal licence and also provide the Licensing Authority with details of the conviction.
These replace occasional permissions and occasional licences. They apply to licensable events with fewer than 500 people attending. The event for which the application is made cannot exceed 96 hours and there must be a minimum of 24 hours between each event for which a TENs is required.
The authority requires a minimum of 10 working days notice before the event is due to take place. Although we are seeking as much notice as possible to enable us to process the application in time for the event.
A maximum of 12 TENs may be served per year in respect of any one premises. Each TENS may last for up to 96 hours. The total number of days permitted under TENs’ in each year must not exceed 15 days for each location.
Up to a maximum of 50 TENs per year are allowable for a personal licence holder and a maximum of 5 events per year for people who don’t have a personal licence.
The applicant will apply to the local licensing authority, in which the relevant premises are situated.
The Chief Officer of Police may object to such an application, serving an objection notice on the applicant no later than 48 hours after receiving the notice.
Should the applicant (and associates) exceed the number of events allowed by the Act we will issue a counter notice on the applicant, disallowing the event.
If the event involves more than 500 people attending you will need to apply for a premises licence. This may take up to 7 weeks to process.
Forms and fees
Contact the Licensing Section
E-mail: licensing@dover.gov.uk
Telephone: 01304 872295
