Home Business licences Alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment, Licensing Act 2003 Review of a premises licence or club premises certificate
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Review of a premises licence or club premises certificate

To review a licence you must be one of the following:\

  • 'Responsible Authority' (i.e. Police, Environmental Protection, Trading Standards etc); and
  • Other persons (i.e any individual, local resident, body or business)

The review must relate to a particular premises and can be triggered if there is evidence that one or more of the following licensing objectives are not being promoted:

  • the prevention of crime and disorder
  • the prevention of public nuisance
  • public safety
  • the protection of children from harm

Review licensing application form

Before you apply for a review

Before you apply for a review, you should try to resolve the matter informally with the licence holder. Tell them about the problems you are experiencing and give them the opportunity to resolve the problem.

If this is not successful, we recommend that you keep a diary of incidents and gather as much evidence as you can to link the problems with the premises. It is also helpful to report the problem to the appropriate responsible authority or to the Licensing team or the police, even if action cannot be taken at the time.

Consider what you seek from the review, such as adding conditions, reducing hours, removing licensable activities and look at what evidence you have to justify this.

Where do I send the forms?

As well as returning the completed review application to us, you will need to notify the holder of the premises licence and each responsible authority by sending them a copy of the application for review together with any accompanying documents, on the same day as the application is given to us. This authority accepts applications by email but must be in the correct form.

You can find details of the holder by either viewing our public register or contacting the licensing team direct.

For a list of all the responsible authorities.

Failure to notify the responsible authorities or the licence holder on the same day as us will make the application invalid.

What happens next?

We will check that the application to ensure:

  • It relates to the licensing objectives and is not 'frivolous, vexatious or repetitious'
  • Has been sent to the responsible authorities and the licence or certificate holder

If the application is not valid you will be notified by the Licensing Authority with the reasons for the decision.

If the application is valid we will advertise the application by displaying a public notice:

  • At, on or near, the site of the premises where it can be conveniently read from the exterior of the premises
  • At the Town Hall
  • On our website

The notice will:

  • Provide details of the grounds for the review
  • Invite comments from other people and 'responsible authorities'
  • Give dates for receipt of comments. By law we must allow 28 days from receipt of the review application.

At the end of the consultation period we will send you information confirming when the matter will be decided by the Licensing Sub-Committee. The Committee will consider the application together with any relevant representations.  You will be given at least 10 working days notice of the hearing and receive a copy of the report with 5 working days.

Attending the hearing

The meeting will be attended by three Members, one of which will Chair the meeting; a legal representative of the Council; a Committee Clerk and an Officer of the Licensing Team.

The meeting is an opportunity for anyone who requested the review or made relevant representations including the licence holder to address the Sub-Committee directly. You or your representative must therefore be prepared to go to the Sub-Committee to present your case. Someone else (legally qualified or not) can help or represent you, if you want.

We can only consider documents produced for the first time at the hearing if everyone agrees. However additional documentation may be submitted before the day of the hearing.

At the review hearing members must consider all the evidence and then decide from the following alternatives:

  • Take no action
  • Modify or add conditions of the licence this can include modifying hours
  • Exclude a licensable activity from the scope of a licence
  • Remove the designated premises supervisor
  • Suspend the licence for a period not exceeding 3 months
  • Revoke the licence

You will receive formal notification of the decision including your rights of Appeal.

Appeal

Any party aggrieved by the decision of the Sub Committee may appeal to the Magistrates Court.  If this is the case, you may be asked to attend court to give evidence.

The appeal must be made to Thames Magistrates Court.

You must make your appeal within 21 days of being formally told of the Licensing Committees' decision in writing.

A notice of appeal must be given to the justices’ chief executive for the Magistrates court. We also advise that you send a copy of the notice to the licensing team.

If you chose to appeal you are advised to seek legal representation. If you appeal against the Licensing Committees' decision and you are unsuccessful, the court can award costs against you. This would mean you have to pay other parties' legal costs as well as your own.