What is a Review of a Premises Licence?

What is a Review of a Premises Licence?

A Review of a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate is an important but little known part of the Licensing Act 2003.  Any licensed premises operating in a way which does not promote the licensing objectives can be brought to the attention of the Licensing Authority by way of a Review.
The licensing objectives are:
·         the prevention of crime and disorder
·         the promotion of public safety
·         the prevention of public nuisance
·         the protection of children from harm

Examples of actions which could result in a Review may include continuous noise from music escaping from premises late at night and causing disturbance to local residents and/or businesses or repeated sales of alcohol to under age persons.  In these examples the first would be a contravention of the public nuisance objective and the second the contravention of the protection of children from harm.

The parties able to call a review are ‘responsible authorities’, (such as the Police, Fire Authority, Trading Standards, etc), and persons who live or have a business who are affected by the operation of the premises.  A Review Application may be made at any time and the person or authority making the Application must also inform the other responsible authorities of the Application.  Details of those authorities are available at each individual Licensing Authority.

Once an Application for a Review has been made the Licensing Authority will decide whether the reasons for the Review are relevant to the premises.  The Licensing Authority must then advertise the Application by placing a notice at or near the premises subject of the Application.  The Application for Review will nearly always result in a hearing before the Licensing Committee.  However, it may be possible for all parties to reach an agreement about improvements to the way the premises are run and the Licensing Authority may agree to waive the need for a hearing.

Following consideration of the Application the Licensing Committee may do one of the following:

·         Decide that no action is necessary to promote the Licensing Objectives
·         Modify or add conditions to the Licence.
·         Exclude a licensable activity from the Licence.
·         Remove the designated premises supervisor (DPS).
·         Suspend the Licence for a period of up to three months.
·         Revoke the Licence.

There is a right of Appeal if an applicant, responsible authority or interested party is unhappy with the decision of the Licensing Committee.  An Appeal may be made to the Magistrates Court within twenty-one days of written notification of the Licensing Committee’s decision.

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