UK: Licensing Act 2003 - Urgent Action Required

If you are currently the holder of a liquor licence, public entertainment licence or night café licence and you have not yet applied for conversion of the licence, you need to take immediate action or you could risk losing your licence.

The transitional period under the Licensing Act 2003 expires on 6 August 2005. It is during this transitional period that applications must be submitted for conversion of existing licences to new style premises licences under the 2003 Act. Provided that an application for conversion is submitted on or before 6 August with all the appropriate supporting documentation, the applicant has the automatic right to be granted a Premises Licence on the same terms as the existing licence or licences. Only the police can object to these conversion applications and only in very limited circumstances.

If an application for conversion is not submitted by 6 August, the automatic right to be granted a Premises Licence is lost. Instead a new application must be made and must be served upon all responsible authorities (police, fire authority, environmental health department, planning authority, etc). A notice of the application must also be displayed on the premises and be advertised in the press. Therefore, the application will come to the attention of local residents who may decide to object. If any relevant representations are received from local residents or responsible authorities, the local authority must hold a hearing to consider the application. They may then either grant or refuse the application or grant it subject to additional conditions.

It is clearly very important to submit an application for conversion before the end of the transitional period. Failure to do so will result in the applicant having to make a considerably more complex application for a new licence and there will be no guarantee that it will be granted. In particular, if premises have received complaints from local residents or any of the authorities in the past, failure to apply for conversion may give those residents or authorities the opportunity to successfully oppose an application for a new licence. Anybody who owns or manages licensed premises should therefore be taking immediate action to apply for conversion of their licence if they have not already done so.

The new premises licences do not actually take effect until 24 November 2005. Therefore, if licence holders have not made their application for conversion within the transitional period, they do still have over three months in which to apply for a new licence. If a Premises Licence has not been obtained by either conversion or a new licence application by 24 November, the old licence will lapse and the premises will no longer be able to sell alcohol (or provide regulated entertainment or late night refreshment).

Any person who currently holds a Justices Licence (liquor licence) may also apply now for a Personal Licence. Again, the application should be submitted to the local authority on or before 6 August to benefit from the automatic right to be granted a licence (subject to police objections). Licensees who do not submit their application for a personal licence by 6 August may have to undertake a further licensing qualification before they can be granted a personal licence. They will also need to obtain further evidence that they have never been convicted of a relevant or foreign offence. Therefore, whilst it is still possible to obtain a personal licence between 7 August and 24 November, the application is greatly simplified if submitted by a licence holder during the transitional period.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.