Alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment, Licensing Act 2003
Temporary Event Notices (TENs)
To ensure your proposal for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) is safe and unlikely to cause nuisance to residents, please discuss your plans with the Police and Environmental Health Noise at least 14 days prior to your application.
This will hopefully reduce the likelihood of objections that could delay your plans.
Licensing policy
Licensing Policy
The council's current Statement of Licensing Policy came into effect on 1 November 2023. It includes a cumulative impact assessments for areas of Brick Lane and Bethnal Green, which were reviewed in 2021.
Premises that require licences
Any premises that provide licensable activities. There are four main licensable activities:
- the sale by retail of alcohol (on and off sales)
- the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club
- the provision of regulated entertainment
- the provision of late night refreshment
What is the provision of regulated entertainment?
- a performance of a play
- an exhibition of a film
- an indoor sporting event
- a boxing or wrestling entertainment (indoors or outdoors)
- a performance of live music
- any playing of recorded music
- a performance of a dance
- entertainment of similar description to that falling within the performance of live music, the playing of recorded music and the performance of dance.
What is the provision of late night refreshment?
These are any premises serving hot food and hot drinks between the hours of 11pm and 5am including take-aways and restaurants. This could include a burger van which is sited on a particular pitch.
Licences
Other applications
The following forms are concerned with various aspects of the Licensing Act 2003:
Applications must be sent to the licensing authority for the area where the premises are located or the authority where the personal licence was issued.
Copies of the Licensing Act 2003 can be obtained from Office of Public Sector Information or a copy can be inspected at the council offices where you may also obtain an application form and further help or advice. For further information, on the Licensing Act 2003 and Guidance visit the Home Office website.
This authority is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided on this form for the prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.
For more details on how your information is used please refer to the Environmental Health & Trading Standard privacy notice.
Fees
Please note that under the Licensing Act 2003, there is no provision for a refund. You can make payment by telephone on 020 7364 5008 or online payments can be made on the payment page.
Make an online payment
Electronic application made through gov.uk website
If an application has been given at the weekend, the notice advertising the application (where applicable) may already be displayed outside the premises by the time this Licensing Authority downloads the application.
If we hold the application then the original (or if necessary, amended) notice must be displayed until the end of the revised period.
Please do not advertise the application in a local newspaper until you have received confirmation from the Licensing Authority that the application include all the required information.
How to make a complaint about licensed premises
If you have concerns about a licensed premises, for example you believe that they are breaching a conditions of their licence, operating beyond their licensed hours or undermining one or more of the licensing objectives.
Please contact the Licensing and Safety Team via the contact details.
Email: licensing@towerhamlets.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7364 5008
Review of a premises licence
We would advise that in the event of a complaint the first contact is made with the trader by you - preferably in the form a letter (with proof of delivery). If that has not worked, please contact us.
Other persons (residents, businesses or a Ward Councillor) and responsible authorities (i.e. Metropolitan Police, Environmental Health Noise etc) may apply to the licensing authority to review the premises licence if they are of the opinion that the following licensing objectives are being undermined:
- the prevention of crime and disorder
- the prevention of public nuisance
- public safety
- the protection of children from harm.
However, the Licensing Authority can reject a review application if they are frivolous, vexatious or repetitious. The review application will be dealt with by way of a public hearing by the Tower Hamlets Licensing Sub-Committee. The relevant parties will be notified of the hearing in writing.
All the relevant parties will have the option to appeal our decision. The appeal must be made to the Magistrates Court. A notice of appeal must be given to the justices’ chief executive for the Magistrates Court within a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the appellant was notified by the Licensing Authority.
Police reviews
A chief police officer may apply for a review of the premises licence if in their opinion the premises are associated with serious crime and disorder.
A hearing will be held by the Licensing Authority and the licence holder and other interested parties may make representations.
An interested party or relevant authority who made relevant representations may appeal against the granting of a licence or against any condition, variation or licensable activity.
The appeal must be made to the Magistrates Court. A notice of appeal must be given to the justices’ chief executive for the Magistrates Court within a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the appellant was notified by the Licensing Authority.