Under the new Act, there is a way that temporary events can continue without the club having to apply for a full Premises Licence with a designated Premises Supervisor. This is through a  Temporary Event Notices or TENs.

The DCMS guidance advises:

"Temporary event notices may be given in respect of club premises covered by club premises certificates by non personal licence holders. This means, for example, that a club which under its certificate is normally only permitted to supply alcohol to its members and their guests may during the period covered by a TEN (subject to the limit on numbers and occasions) under the authority of the notice and the responsibility of the individual giving the notice (the premises user) admit members of the public and sell alcohol to them as well as provide regulated entertainment. Only twelve such notices may be given in respect of the same club premises in any calendar year and the maximum aggregate duration of 15 days will also apply."

TENs allow anyone who is not a Personal Licence holder to apply for a licence to hold an event involving licensable activities (such as sale of alcohol or the provision of regulated entertainment) which lasts no longer than 96 hours and is for no more than 499 persons. Non Personal Licence holders may make up to five applications per year (which means that a club will need to give consideration to the persons who might apply, perhaps members of the bar committee) and no premises may be used more than twelve times in a calendar year.

Some larger clubs may decide that they would like to apply for a Premises Licence in addition to the Club Premises Certificate. This would mean that the club would also need to have a designated premises supervisor who was a Personal Licence holder. This would allow the club to admit members of the public but they would need to take care that they did not become a bar generally open to the public as this could have an impact on their status as qualifying club being run ‘in good faith’.

Clubs will need to give some thought as to how they approach conversion of their existing certificates and would do well to seek some legal advice. The advice in this document should not be regarded as a definitive statement of the law, it is our current interpretation only. We will endeavour to keep you up to date with further advice coming from the Government and we will update our website as and when information comes to us. Keep in touch by logging on to this website or contact the Licensing Section on 01803 861234.