Temporary Event Notices

The Licensing Act 2003 introduced Temporary Event Notices (TEN) to allow for small one off events or situations where a Premises Licence does not meet the needs of a particular function and/or a particular night.

For example: a TEN may be required for a party in a marquee for an unlicensed field or a TEN may be used for a function where an existing Premises Licence only permits a terminal hour of 11 pm and a client wishes a party to be until 1 am.

To prevent the Temporary Event system being mis-used there are a number of limitations to their use:

1.         The maximum number of people who can attend the event is 499 which    includes staff and any performers.  If there are to be 500 or more at an event a Premises Licence must be applied for.

2.         The maximum number of events for any one premises is 12.(It is possible to permit 12 events per room in a premises – please contact us for further information and advice)

3.         A TEN can last for up to 96 hours (7 days)

4.         There must be at least 24 hours between events.

5.         A Personal Licence holder can give up to 50 Temporary Event Notices, a non- Personal Licence Holder can only give 5.

No actual permission is required for a TEN.  If the Notification is properly made within the above limits the event becomes a “permitted temporary event”.

If the limitations above are exceeded then the Licensing Officer will issue a counter notice which effectively prevents the event from happening.

The Notification is sent to the Licensing Authority, Police and Environmental Health Officer and provided no counter notice is issued the Licensing Officer will acknowledge the Notice by signing and sending it back to the Applicant.

If the Police or Environmental Health officer wish to object to the TEN a hearing must be held at least twenty-four hours before the event unless agreement can be reached beforehand.

Where objections are received from the Police or Environmental Health, conditions can be imposed on the TEN which can be the same as those already imposed on any existing Premises Licence for the same premises to which the TEN relates.

There is a right of appeal to the Magistrates’ Court for the police and the applicant, however, late service of any Notification before an event may make appealing a decision difficult.

Late Temporary Event Notifications

It is now possible to apply for “late” Temporary Event Notices by giving a minimum of five working days notice.  Hills Licensing recommends advising the Licensing Officer and Police that you are making such a notification.

There is a limit of 10 Late TENs each calendar year for an individual holding a Personal Licence, and 2 for those who don’t

However, careful consideration must be given to the use of “late” TENs as once the limit on the number of Late Temporary Event Notices has been reached, then no more Temporary Event Notices can be given at all, ie., once a Personal Licence Holder has given 10 Late Temporary Event Notices, although they have not reached their limit of 50, they cannot make any more.

Please contact us email, sally@hillslicensing.co.uk if you need any assistance with any of the matters referred to above.