Licensing News, Initiatives and Consultations

Licensing Changes and Initiatives- April 2017

Individual applicants must demonstrate right to work in UK

From 6 April 2017 it will be a requirement that individuals applying for a premises licence must have a right to work in the UK, evidence of which must be supplied with the application. Unfortunately if you fail to provide the necessary evidence we will have no option but to reject your application. Please read the guidance notes for

Entitlement to work for Individual Applicants.

Alcohol Wholesalers Registration Scheme

On 1 April 2017 it became a requirement that anyone purchasing alcohol wholesale is required to check that the wholesaler they are buying from is approved on the Alcohol Wholesaler’s Registration Scheme (AWRS) operated by HM Revenue and Customs. The following leaflet gives giving further details about the scheme

Further guidance is also available on the GOV.UK website and an online checking service which businesses can use to check that their supplier is registered.

Licensing Consultations

The consultation on the three year review of the Council's Statement of Gambling Policy for the period 2019-2022 ended on 3 August 2018. We are now collating and reviewing the comments we received and will be submitting our final draft to the Council for approval in the coming months. For further details please see the Council's Licensing Policy webpage.

Details of applications which are currently pending and open for public consultation can be found on the Council's Pending Applications Licensing Register.

Renewal of Personal Licences – Important Information

On 1 April 2015 the requirement to renew a personal licence was de-regulated by central government. Any personal licences which show an expiry date which is later than 1 April 2015 will continue to remain in effect after the expiry date shown on the licence. Amended licences are not being routinely issued, however, any personal licence holder who wishes to receive an updated licence should request this in writing and return the original paper and card licences to the licensing team together with a fee of £10.50.

Best Bar None

Best Bar None is an award scheme for licensed premises. It was developed and piloted in Manchester in 2003 to address alcohol related crime and improve the night time environment and has since been implemented in over 80 local authority areas. However, the decision has recently been made not to proceed with Best Bar None for 2016/17. The BBN team would like to thank everyone who has been involved and taken part in the scheme. Any queries should be made to [email protected].

Public Health and Alcohol

The Substance Misuse and Offender Care (SMOC) Commissioning Team provide advice and support on Public Health issues in relation to alcohol and licensing as well as supporting partnership initiatives to address local alcohol specific issues through our Public Health funded and commissioned community alcohol and drug services which work across the Royal Borough and provide treatment for residents who may have drinking problems. The key contact for licensing and alcohol in the SMOC Commissioning Team is Theresa McShane ([email protected]).

Last updated: 29 November 2019