Temporary Event Notices

A Temporary Event Notice (TEN) is a notification given by an individual to Wychavon District Council, giving notice of ‘licensable activities’ that are planned to take place. TEN’s replace “occasional permissions” for sale of alcohol (issued by the Licensing Justices) and occasional licences for entertainment, plays etc that we previously administered.

Licensable activities are:

• The sale of alcohol by retail
• The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of a club
• The provision of regulated entertainment
• The provision of late night refreshment (the supply of hot food or hot drink to the public between 11pm and 5am)

A TEN can be obtained by sending two copies of a completed application to the Council (with the correct fee) whilst serving a copy at the same time to the Police. This must be done at least 10 working days before the event, however we strongly recommend that at least six weeks notice be given to allow time for problems to be resolved.

Although there is to be “exceptionally light touch bureaucracy”, the law adds a number of limitations:

• The person giving the TEN must be aged 18 years or over.
• No premises (even public houses) may have more than 12 temporary events in any calendar year (the period between 1 January to 31 December).
• No premises may be used on more than 15 days per calendar year in total (an event that spans midnight counts as 2 days*).
• Personal licence holders may give up to 50 notices per calendar year (but these would have to be spread over at least five different premises as only 12 TENS can be given to any one premises in a year).Non- personal licence holders can only give up to 5 notices per year.
• Each event may last no more than 96 hours.
• No more than 499 persons can attend the event.

There must be at least 24 hours between events notified by the premises user – or by a relation or business associate of that person - in respect of the same premises.

Where the Police object to a TEN on grounds of crime and disorder – or where the limitations above aren’t met, a decision as to whether or not the TEN will be accepted will be made by Licensing Sub-Committee. If only ten day’s notice of the event has been given, we may not be aware of problems until a few days before the proposed event. Since a decision has to be given 24 hours before the proposed event, there will be little notice possible in arranging the hearing.

In common with other applications made under the Licensing Act 2003, application forms are available from www.culture.gov.uk - or will be sent by us on request.