Licensing Act 2003

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Extract

Licensing Act 2003

An Act to make provision about the regulation of the sale and supply of alcohol, the provision of entertainment and the provision of late night refreshment, about offences relating to alcohol and for connected purposes.

[10 th July 2003]

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

Part 1 Licensable activities

1 Licensable activities and qualifying club activities

(1) For the purposes of this Act the following are licensable activities—

(a) the sale by retail of alcohol,

(b) the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club,

(d) the provision of late night refreshment.

(2) For those purposes the following licensable activities are also qualifying club activities—

(a) the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club,

(b) the sale by retail of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to a guest of a member of the club for consumption on the premises where the sale takes place, and

(c) the provision of regulated entertainment where that provision is by or on behalf of a club for members of the club or members of the club and their guests.

(3) In this Act references to the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club do not include a reference to any supply which is a sale by retail of alcohol.

(4) Schedule 1 makes provision about what constitutes the provision of regulated entertainment for the purposes of this Act.

(5) Schedule 2 makes provision about what constitutes the provision of late night refreshment for those purposes (including provision that certain activities carried on in relation to certain clubs or hotels etc, or certain employees, do not constitute provision of late night refreshment and are, accordingly, not licensable activities).

(6) For the purposes of this Act premises are “used” for a licensable activity if that activity is carried on on or from the premises.

(7) This section is subject to sections 173 to 175 (which exclude activities from the definition of licensable activity in certain circumstances).

2 Authorisation for licensable activities and qualifying club activities

(1) A licensable activity may be carried on—

(a) under and in accordance with a premises licence (see Part 3) , or

(b) in circumstances where the activity is a permitted temporary activity by virtue of Part 5.

(2) A qualifying club activity may be carried on under and in accordance with a club premises certificate (see Part 4).

(3) Nothing in this Act prevents two or more authorisations having effect concurrently in respect of the whole or a part of the same premises or in respect of the same person.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) “authorisation” means—

(a) a premises licence;

(b) a club premises certificate;

Part 2 Licensing authorities

The authorities

3 Licensing authorities

(1) In this Act “licensing authority” means—

(a) the council of a district in England,

(b) the council of a county in England in which there are no district councils,

(d) the council of a London borough,

(e) the Common Council of the City of London,

(f) the Sub-Treasurer of the Inner Temple,

(g) the Under-Treasurer of the Middle Temple, or

(h) the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a licensing authority’s area is the area for which the authority acts.

Functions of licensing authorities etc.

4 General duties of licensing authorities

(1) A licensing authority must carry out its functions under this Act (“licensing functions”) with a view to promoting the licensing objectives.

(2) The licensing objectives are—

(a) the prevention of crime and disorder;

(b) public safety;

(d) the protection of children from harm.

(3) In carrying out its licensing functions, a licensing authority must also have regard to—

(a) its licensing statement published under section 5 , and

(b) any guidance issued by the Secretary of State under section 182.

5 Statement of licensing policy

(1) Each licensing authority must in respect of each three year period—

(a) determine its policy with respect to the exercise of its licensing functions, and

(b) publish a statement of that policy (a “licensing statement”) before the beginning of the period.

(2) In this section “three year period” means—

(a) the period of three years beginning with such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint, and

(b) each subsequent period of three years.

(3) Before determining its policy for a three year period, a licensing authority must consult—

(a) the chief officer of police for the licensing authority’s area,

(b) the fire authority for that area,

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