Read the full text: Licensing Act 2003 on legislation.gov.uk.
The Licensing Act 2003 is the main law governing the sale of alcohol, the provision of regulated entertainment, and the provision of late night refreshment in England and Wales. It replaced a patchwork of older licensing regimes with a single system administered by local licensing authorities, and it is a genuinely separate legal framework from health and safety law — a risk assessment doesn't authorise a licensable activity, and a licence doesn't remove the need for a risk assessment.
Getting this wrong is a criminal matter, not a civil one. Running licensable activities without proper authorisation is a specific offence under the Act, entirely separate from any health and safety failing that might also be present at the same premises or event.
What Counts as a Licensable Activity?
Four categories of activity are covered:
- Sale of alcohol by retail — and the equivalent supply of alcohol by a club to its members.
- Provision of regulated entertainment — things like live music, recorded music, dance performances, plays, films and indoor sporting events, generally where the entertainment is provided to the public or a section of the public, for consideration, with a view to profit. There are specific statutory exemptions covering certain performances (the Act carves out particular exceptions for things like unamplified live music in some circumstances and certain incidental music).
- Provision of late night refreshment — supplying hot food or hot drink to members of the public, for consumption on or off the premises, between 11pm and 5am.
If your event or venue involves any of these, you need proper authorisation before the activity takes place — not after.
The Four Licensing Objectives
Every licensing authority must carry out its functions with a view to promoting four objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; and the protection of children from harm. These aren't abstract principles — they're the actual legal test behind every licensing decision, every condition attached to a licence, and every review triggered by a problem premises. An operating schedule submitted with a premises licence application has to explain how the applicant will promote each of these four objectives in practice.
Premises Licences and the Designated Premises Supervisor
A premises licence authorises specified licensable activities at a specific place, generally on an ongoing basis rather than for a single event. Where a premises licence authorises the sale of alcohol, the law requires two mandatory conditions: there must be a named Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) in respect of the licence, who must hold a personal licence that isn't suspended, and no alcohol sale can be made unless there's a DPS in place at that time; and every sale must be made or authorised by someone who holds a personal licence. A personal licence is a separate, individual authorisation — distinct from the premises licence itself — that allows that person to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol at licensed premises. In practice, this is the specific legal mechanism that keeps one accountable, trained person responsible for alcohol sales at the venue at all times.
Temporary Event Notices (TENs)
For a one-off or occasional event, a full premises licence is often disproportionate. A Temporary Event Notice lets an individual aged 18 or over run licensable activities for up to 168 hours (7 days) at premises, with a maximum of 499 people on site at any one time. The premises user gives the notice to the relevant licensing authority, pays the prescribed fee, and specifies the licensable activities, the exact times during the event period they'll take place, and the maximum number of people allowed on site. Where the activity includes alcohol, the notice must make it a condition that all supplies are made by or under the authority of the premises user — there's no separate DPS or personal licence requirement for a TEN the way there is for a premises licence, but the premises user carries that responsibility personally. There are limits on how many TENs an individual or a set of premises can use in a given period, which is worth checking with the licensing authority for anything beyond a genuinely occasional event.
Offences and Penalties
Carrying on, or knowingly allowing, a licensable activity without a premises licence, club premises certificate or valid temporary event notice is a criminal offence under Section 136 of the Act. On summary conviction, it carries imprisonment for up to 6 months, a fine, or both. This sits alongside a range of other offences under the Act — including selling alcohol to a person who is drunk, and various offences relating to underage sales — each with its own specific penalty. Licensing authorities and the police both have powers to review, suspend or revoke a licence where the licensing objectives are being undermined, independent of any criminal prosecution.
How This Relates to Risk Assessments
Licensing and risk assessment are two separate legal duties that frequently apply to the same event, and neither substitutes for the other. Licensing authorises the specific activity — selling alcohol, providing entertainment, serving late night food — and is enforced as a criminal matter. A risk assessment under health and safety law identifies and controls the hazards to people at the event or venue — crowd safety, structural risk from marquees or staging, fire, manual handling, and so on — and is a separate duty under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. Anyrisks generates the event risk assessment side of running a licensed event or venue, but doesn't handle the licensing application itself — that goes through the local licensing authority, and for anything beyond a straightforward TEN, it's worth taking specific licensing advice alongside getting the risk assessment sorted.
A Worked Example
A village hall committee wants to run a one-off summer fête with a licensed bar, live music and a hot food stall running past 11pm. Because it's a single occasional event with expected attendance under 500, an individual committee member (aged 18+) applies for a Temporary Event Notice covering the alcohol sales, the music, and the late night food, specifying the exact hours each activity will run and confirming they'll personally authorise the alcohol sales. Separately, and regardless of the TEN, the committee still needs an event risk assessment covering crowd safety, the marquee, electrical supply for the music, and the food stall's own food hygiene requirements — the TEN authorises the licensable activities, it doesn't cover any of that.
