1. North Northumberland Village Halls Consortium
Welcome to Felton Village Hall
Monday 1 December 2014

2. Village halls and alcohol
To sell alcohol you must have either
A Temporary Event Notice
A Premises Licence which includes the sale of alcohol
If you do not sell alcohol you don’t need to be licensed as it is not deemed a licensable activity. “Bring Your Own” is also allowable as no sale occurs, The Licensing Act assumes there is no such thing a free glass of wine/beer. If a condition of receiving a free drink is to pay an admission fee or some other transaction like buy a raffle ticket then a license will be required. Bottles of alcohol Prizes for raffles/tombolas are allowed.

3. Village halls and alcohol
Potential changes
The Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice
Consultation deadline: Tuesday 9 December
This consultation on the proposed CANs is Govt’s desire to reduce the burden of bureaucracy and keep communities on side. Only about 5 simple tick box questions not onerous - more later.

4. Village halls and alcohol
Why move away from TENs?
There is a maximum number per year
The cost can mount up
There is a limit to the number each individual can obtain
A form has to be completed every time you obtain one.
12 per year for the any one hall in most circumstances covering a max of 15 days in total (each can last for no more than 96 hrs)
£21 x 12 = £252/year
Max of 5 TENs per individual but 50 if the applicant holds a Personal Licence;
5 page form for each TEN posted in duplicate to NCC, one to police and to Env Health
Form can now be completed and paid for by debit/credit card on the internet. Saves on postage and photocopying

5. Village halls and alcohol
Premises licence Dance Live Music Perform Plays Record music Wrestle or box do anything similar Show films late night refreshments Supply of alcohol
Assume all halls will have a Premises Licence? The issue is what activities are included in that licence. Covers Regulated entertainment most halls will have some of these. Vill halls can include any or all the above for free. Licensing officers sometimes need to be reminded of this. Late night refreshments means food between 11.00pm and 5.00am. PL lasts indefinitely until it is revoked so doesn’t need to be renewed annually.
But if you wish to to include alcohol you will have to pay an annual fee.

6. Village halls and alcohol
Premises licence - Why?
The prevention of crime and disorder
Public safety
The prevention of public nuisance
The protection of children
The Licencing Act 2003 came into force in November 2005 & replaced everything which came before it The 4 main purposes are listed above.

7. Village halls and alcohol
Why bother? No more applications A single fee to cover the year £100 initial application £70 thereafter
Including alcohol in a hall’s Premises Licence means no applications for a whole year and no more £21 fees – just a single annual fee. I’ll come back to these fees later – they are based on the rateable value of your hall and these are the minimum but most common.

8. Village halls and alcohol
Process Complete application form of 20 pages Photocopy it 8 times Prepare notice of variation Advertise the notice Disapply for the mandatory condition that your premises has to have a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS)
In August 2009 the need to name a DPS was removed for village halls. The responsibility is now shared by the Management Cttee and there is no longer requirement to attend a one day training course to obtain a Certificate for Personal Licence Holders. But you have to disapply, list all members on Management Cttee etc.

9. Village halls and alcohol
Tips
Discover your hall’s rateable value
Make as many changes/variations as you can in one go.
Make sure you have a plan drawing of the hall
Be careful about the requirement to advertise the variation.
If in doubt talk to licensing officers about your plans
Hand deliver them and they will distribute many to their own departments
Revise your hiring agreement
Application will cost £100 if the non-domestic rateable value of your premises is less than £4300. That is most if not all halls. My modest hall’s rateable value was deemed to be £2150. To advertise the variation we used a combination of a the notice in the local Church Parish Newsletter which cost a small donation, and hand delivered 24 notices to the immediate households with a short explanation as to why we were applying for a variation of the licence.

10. Village halls and alcohol
Timetable Our application was submitted on 28 April Received the new Premises Licence on 26 June

11. Village halls and alcohol
David Grenfell
Go to NCC website then go to the alphabet of letters and select P for Premises licence Everything will be there. Application form to vary the PL, what you must say in the advert, the disapply from the requirement to name a DPS etc.

12. Village halls and alcohol
Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice (CAN)
Current licensing arrangements too costly if only selling small amounts of alcohol.
Part of Coalition Govt’s Deregulation Bill currently before Parliament.
Lighter touch and cheaper. Coalition Govt committed to introducing it. The aim is to enable community groups (including village halls) to serve a glass or two of alcohol with a meal through a much cheaper and simpler process.

13. Village halls and alcohol
Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice (CAN) What? Similar to TENs Who? Community groups and B&Bs How long? 3 years for a one-off fee Restrictions: 7.00am to 11.00pm, max 300 people, no appeal, ancillary to main purpose. Cost: £20-£50
Includes village halls as well as WI and other user groups

14. Village halls and alcohol
Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice (CAN) Consultation Q 4 Definition of Community Group Q 5 Limits of quantity to be sold/person Q 6 Frequency of events
Three sorts of orgs: Ancillary sellers –B&Bs; Licensing authority and Comm Groups.
Only 4 questions and final question is about what kind of org you are. No mention of comm building etc but Comm/vol group or Charity or Other. “Accommodation provider” does not mean village halls. The Question about level of fees is restricted to licence authorities not orgs to be licensed.