Licensing Act 2003 - new mandatory conditions
After a great deal of time and cost the Home Office finally got
approval from the House of Lords to the Mandatory Premises Licence
Conditions. The first three conditions automatically apply to
all premises licences whether new or existing from Tuesday 6 April
2010. The remaining Conditions will come into force on 1
October 2010.
Whilst the Conditions are attached to the
premises licence, they will place an obligation on the following
people:
- the premises licence holder
- The designated premises supervisor
- any person aged 18 or over authorised to make sales of alcohol
at a premises.
It is believed that guidance will be issued at
some stage on enforcement and interpretation of the Conditions.
By way of reminder the first three Conditions
cover the following.
- All reasonable steps shall be taken to ensure
that staff do not carry out, arrange or participate in any
irresponsible promotions. Such promotions are attempted to be
defined quite widely to include games encouraging the consumption
of quantities of alcohol; providing quantities of alcohol free or
for a fixed or discounted fee; provision of free or cheap alcohol
as a prize; provision of free or cheap alcohol related to viewing
sporting events in certain circumstances; provision of alcohol in
association with promotional posters/fliers in the vicinity of
premises in certain circumstances.
- Prevention of alcohol being dispensed
directly by one person into another's mouth, ie the so called
'dentist's chair'.
- The provision of free tap water on
request.
The final two Conditions coming into effect in
October broadly require the following:
4. An Age Verification Policy.
5. Providing alcohol in small
measures, eg spirits: 25 ml or 35 ml; and a glass of
wine:125ml.
Whether or not guidance is actually issued,
interpretation of the Conditions will ultimately be a matter for
the courts on any prosecution. We think it unlikely cases
will reach the courts as breach of the conditions is more likely to
lead to a review of the premises licence rather than a prosecution;
where increasingly the sanctions of Local Authorities have a
greater financial detriment to the licence holder on a lower
standard of proof, than the punishments delivered by the
courts.
On a practical note in our discussions with
local authorities across the UK we understand that some licensing
authorities will be withdrawing all premises licences and
re-issuing with the new Conditions; others and some will add the
conditions when a licence is re-issued following any changes, eg to
plans or the DPS. Finally, some authorities will either do
nothing or write to all licence holders advising them of the
Conditions. Whether or not communication is in fact made by a
Licensing Authority is irrelevant the conditions will apply on 6
April 2010 whether stated on the Licence or not.
You have been warned!
