Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates)(Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2009 and come into force on 29^th July 2009.

Premises licences and club premises certificates: forms, representations, notices and advertisement of applications

2.-(1) The Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates) Regulations 2005(2) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2(1) after the definition of "the Act" insert-

""alternative licence condition" in relation to a premises licence means the condition that every supply of alcohol under the licence must be made or authorised by the management committee;".

(3) For regulation 10 substitute-

"Premises licences

10.-(1) An application for a premises licence under section 17 shall be in the form and shall contain the information set out in Schedule 2 and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

(2) Where the application includes an application for the alternative licence condition to be included in the licence the application shall be accompanied by the information set out in Schedule 4A in the form there set out.".

(4) For regulation 12 substitute-

"Variation of premises licence

12.-(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and regulation 13A, an application to vary a premises licence under section 34 shall be in the form and shall contain the information set out in Schedule 4 and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

(2) Where the application includes an application for the alternative licence condition to be included in the licence the application shall be accompanied by the information set out in Schedule 4A in the form there set out.".

(5) In regulation 13 omit the words after "prescribed fee".

(6) After regulation 13, insert-

"Variation of premises licence solely to include the alternative licence condition

13A. An application to vary a premises licence under section 34 in which the only variation sought is the inclusion of the alternative licence condition shall be in the form and shall contain the information set out in Schedule 4A and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.

Minor variation of premises licence

13B. An application for minor variation of a premises licence under section 41A shall be in the form and shall contain the information set out in Schedule 4B and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.".

(7) In regulation 19 omit the words after "prescribed fee".

(8) After regulation 19 insert-

"Minor variation of club premises certificates

19A. An application for minor variation of a club premises certificate under section 86A shall be in the form and shall contain the information set out in Schedule 4B and shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee.".

(9) In regulation 21(1) after "representations" insert "(other than representations of the kind referred to in section 41B(2)(b)(i) or 86B(2)(b)(i))".

(10) In regulation 22 after "representations" where it first occurs, insert "(other than representations of the kind referred to in section 41B(2)(b) or 86B(2)(b))".

(11) In regulation 25 after "section 34" insert "(except where the only variation sought is the inclusion of the alternative licence condition)".

(12) After regulation 26 insert-

"Advertisement of applications: minor variations

26A.-(1) In the case of an application for minor variation of a premises licence or club premises certificate (under section 41A or 86A respectively) the person making the application shall advertise the application for the required period-

(a)by displaying a notice which complies with paragraph (2) prominently at or on the premises to which the application relates so that it can be conveniently read from the exterior of the premises, and

(b)if any part of the external perimeter of the premises that is one hundred or more metres in length abuts a public highway or other place accessible to the public, by displaying such a notice at least every fifty metres along that part of the perimeter.

(2) A notice complies with this paragraph if-

(a)it is-

(i)white,

(ii)of a size equal to or larger than A4,

(iii)printed legibly in black ink or typed in black;

(b)it includes the following information-

(i)in the case of an application under section 41A, at or near the top of the notice the heading "Licensing Act 2003: Minor Variation of Premises Licence",

(ii)in the case of an application under section 86A, at or near the top of the notice the heading "Licensing Act 2003: Minor Variation of Club Premises Certificate",

(iii)a brief description of the proposed variation or variations,

(iv)the name of the applicant or club,

(v)the postal address of the premises or club premises, if any, or if there is no postal address for the premises a description of those premises sufficient to enable the location and extent of the premises or club premises to be identified,

(vi)the postal address and, where applicable, the worldwide web address where the register of the relevant licensing authority is kept and where and when the record of the application may be inspected,

(v)the date by which an interested party may make representations to the relevant licensing authority,

(vi)that it is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with an application and the maximum fine for which a person is liable on summary conviction for the offence;

(c)the information referred to in subparagraph (b)(i) or (ii) above is printed or typed in a font of a size equal to or larger than 32;

(d)the remainder of the notice is printed or typed in a font of a size equal to or larger than 16.

(3) In this regulation "the required period" is the continuous period beginning on the first working day after the day on which the application was given to the relevant licensing authority and ending at the expiry of the ninth consecutive working day after that day.".

(13) In regulation 27 after "section 34" insert "(except where the only variation sought is the inclusion of the alternative licence condition)".

(14) For Regulation 28 substitute-

"Notice to chief officer of police etc.

28.-(1) In a case to which this paragraph applies a person making an application or giving a notice shall give a copy of the application or notice, together with its accompanying documents (if any) to the chief officer of police on the same day as the day on which the application is given to the relevant licensing authority.

(2) Paragraph (1) applies to-

(a)an application of the kind referred to in regulation 10(2), 12(2) or 13A (an application for the inclusion of the alternative licence condition);

(b)an application to vary a premises licence under section 37 (to specify an individual as premises supervisor);

(c)an application for the transfer of a premises licence under section 42;

(d)the giving of an interim authority notice under section 47.

(3) In a case falling within paragraph (2)(b) the person making the application shall in addition give to the designated premises supervisor (if any) a copy of the application together with its accompanying documents (if any) on the same day as the day on which the application is given to the relevant licensing authority and the chief officer of police.".

(15) After Schedule 4, insert Schedules 4A and 4B as set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.

Licensing authority's register

3. After regulation 2(2) of the Licensing Act 2003 (Licensing authority's register)(other information) Regulations 2005(3), insert-

"(2A) In the case of an application under section 41A (application for minor variation of premises licence) or 86A (application for minor variation of club premises certificate) of the Act, the details of the proposed variation or variations as given in the application.".

Fees

4.-(1) The Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005(4) are amended as follows.

(2) After regulation 4 insert-

"Fee to accompany application for minor variation of premises licence

4A. The fee to accompany an application for minor variation of a premises licence under section 41A is £89.".

(3) After regulation 6 insert-

"Fee to accompany application for minor variation of club premises certificate

6A. The fee to accompany an application for minor variation of a club premises certificate under section 86A is £89.".

(4) In the table in Schedule 6 after the entry that begins with "section 37" insert the following entry-

Regulation 2(15)

SCHEDULE

Regulations 10(2), 12(2) and 13A

"SCHEDULE 4

Regulations 13B and 19A

SCHEDULE 4B

"

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/42), the Licensing Act 2003 (Licensing authority's register) (Other information) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/43) and the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/79).

The purpose of the amendments is to prescribe the forms, advertising requirements, fees and content of a licensing authority's register in relation to minor variations of premises licences and club premises certificates under the Licensing Act 2003 (c. 17), and to prescribe the forms etc. and fees in relation to applications from community premises for inclusion of alternative mandatory conditions in their licences as regards the supervision of alcohol sales.

The minor variations process was introduced into the 2003 Act by the Legislative Reform (Minor Variations to Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1772). The purpose of the process is to enable premises licences and club premises certificates to be varied by means of a less costly and less time-consuming procedure where the variations proposed could not have any adverse effect upon the promotion of any of the four licensing objectives set out in section 4 of the 2003 Act (the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm).

The availability of alternative mandatory licence conditions for community premises was introduced into the Act by the Legislative Reform (Supervision of Alcohol Sales in Church and Village Halls &c.) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1724). The alternative conditions omit the requirement for a designated premises supervisor, and instead require that the management committee of the community premises be responsible for the supervision of alcohol sales from those premises.

The application form for the inclusion of the alternative licence condition is set out in a new Schedule 4A to the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates) Regulations 2005 ("the 2005 Regulations").

The application form for the minor variations process is set out in a new Schedule 4B to the 2005 Regulations. Those Regulations are also amended so as to remove the requirement that relevant representations from responsible authorities (as defined in sections 13(4) and 69(4) of the 2003 Act) in response to minor variation applications must be in writing, and to exclude the general time limits for representations in relation to such applications. (The relevant time limits for minor variations are contained in the 2003 Act as amended).

The advertising requirements for minor variation applications are set out in a new regulation 26A inserted into the 2005 Regulations. The applicant is required to display a white A4-sized notice at the premises containing the information set out in regulation 26A(2)(b) for a period of ten working days following the day on which the application is given to the relevant licensing authority.

The Licensing Act 2003 (Licensing authority's register)(other information) Regulations 2005 are amended so as to require details of proposed minor variations to be included in a licensing authority's register maintained pursuant to section 8 of the 2003 Act.

The Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005 are amended to introduce an application fee in respect of minor variations of premises licences and club premises certificates: the fee is set at £89 in each case. Those Regulations are also amended to introduce a fee of £23 in respect of an application to vary a premises licence to include the alternative licence condition, where the only variation sought in the application is to include that condition. There is no change in the fee payable where an application to include the alternative licence condition is included in an application for a premises licence, or as part of an application to vary such a licence in which other variations are sought.

An Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of the Legislative Reform Orders cited above, which includes the impact of these Regulations.