Minor Variations to Premises Licences and Club Premises
Certificates
Minor variations process
1. The Licensing Act
2003 has been amended by the insertion of sections relating to
minor variations. Small variations that will not impact
adversely on the licensing objectives are subject to a simplified
‘minor variations’ process. Under this process, the applicant is
not required to advertise the variation in a newspaper or circular
or copy it to responsible authorities. However, they must
display it on a white notice which complies with the
regulations. The notice must be displayed for a period of ten
working days starting on the working day after the minor variation
application was given to the licensing authority.
2. On receipt of an
application for a minor variation, the licensing authority must
consider whether the variation could impact adversely on the
licensing objectives.
3. In considering the
application, the licensing authority must consult relevant
responsible authorities if there is any doubt about the impact of
the variation on the licensing objectives and they need specialist
advice, and take their views into account in reaching a
decision. For instance, they may need to consult the
environmental health officer on an application with possible public
nuisance implications. But there is no requirement to consult
all responsible authorities on each application and in many cases
the licensing authority may be able to make a decision without
consultation.
4. The licensing
authority must also consider any relevant representations received
from interested parties within the time limit referred to
below. Representations are only relevant if they clearly
relate to the likely effect of the grant of the variation on the
promotion of at least one of the licensing objectives.
In the case of minor variations, there is no right to a hearing (as
for a full variation or new application), but licensing authorities
must take any representations into account in arriving at a
decision.
5. Interested parties
have ten working days from the ‘initial day’, i.e., the day after
the application is received by the licensing authority, to submit
representations. The licensing authority must therefore wait until
this period has elapsed before determining the application, but
must do so at the latest within 15 working days, beginning on the
first working day after the authority received the application,
with effect either that:
- the minor variation is granted; or,
- the application is
refused.
6. If the
licensing authority fails to respond to the applicant within 15
working days (see section 193 of the Act for the definition of
working day) the application will be treated as refused and the
authority must return the fee to the applicant forthwith.
However, the licensing authority and the applicant may agree
instead that the undetermined application should be treated as a
new application and that the fee originally submitted will be
treated as a fee for the new application.
7. Where an
application is refused and is then re-submitted through the full
variation process, the full 28 days notification period will apply
from the date the new application is received and applicants should
advertise the application and copy it to all responsible
authorities (in accordance with the regulations applicable to full
variations).
8. Minor variations will
generally fall into four categories: minor changes to the structure
or layout of a premises; small adjustments to licensing hours; the
removal of out of date, irrelevant or unenforceable conditions or
addition of volunteered conditions; and the addition of certain
licensable activities. In all cases the overall test
is whether the proposed variation could impact adversely on any of
the four licensing objectives.
Changes to structure/layout
9. Many small
variations to layout will have no adverse impact on the licensing
objectives. However, changes to layout should be referred to
the full variation process if they could potentially have an
adverse impact on the promotion of the licensing objectives, for
example by:
- increasing the capacity for drinking on the
premises ;
- affecting access between the public part of
the premises and the rest of the premises or the street or public
way, e.g. block emergency exits or routes to emergency exits;
- impeding the effective operation of a noise
reduction measure such as an acoustic lobby;
9. Licensing
authorities will also need to consider the combined effect of a
series of applications for successive small layout changes (for
example, as part of a rolling refurbishment of a premises) which in
themselves may not be significant, but which cumulatively may
impact adversely on the licensing objectives. This emphasises the
importance of having an up to date copy of the premises plan
available.
10. An application to remove a
licensable activity would normally be approved as a minor
variation.
11. Variations to add the
sale by retail or supply of alcohol to a licence are excluded from
the minor variations process and must be treated as full variations
in all cases.
12. The Act covers a wide
range of other licensable activities and licensing authorities will
need to consider each application on a case by case basis and in
light of any licence conditions put forward by the applicant.
13. For example, the
addition of live or recorded music to a licence may impact on the
public nuisance objective, but this will depend on many
factors. Licensing authorities will need to consider
factors such as proximity to residential areas and any noise
reduction conditions volunteered by the applicant. It is very
much the Government’s intention that applications to vary a licence
for live music should benefit from the minor variations process
unless there is likely to be an adverse impact on the licensing
objectives.
14. Similarly, in some
circumstances, the addition of other types of regulated
entertainment, such as the performance of plays or exhibition of
films, to a licence may have no adverse impact on the licensing
objectives.
Licensing hours
15. Variations to:
- extend licensing hours for the sale or supply
of alcohol for consumption on or off the premises between the hours
of 23.00 and 07.00; or
- to increase the amount of time on any day
during which alcohol may be sold or supplied for consumption on or
off the premises
are excluded from the minor
variations process and must be treated as full variations in all
cases. Applications to reduce licensing hours for the sale or
supply of alcohol or to or move (without increasing) the licensed
hours between 07.00 and 23.00 will normally be processed as minor
variations.
Licensing conditions
Volunteered conditions
16. Applicants may volunteer
conditions as part of the minor application process. These
conditions may arise from their own risk assessment of the
variation, or from informal discussions with responsible
authorities or the licensing authority.
17. For instance, there may
circumstances when the licence holder and a responsible authority
such as the police or environmental health authority, agree that a
new condition should be added to the licence. For example,
that a nightclub adds the provision of late night refreshment to
its licence to ensure a longer period of dispersal. Such a
change would not normally impact adversely on the licensing
objectives and could be expected to promote them by preventing
crime and disorder or public nuisance. In these
circumstances, the minor variation process may provide a less
costly and onerous means of amending the licence than a review,
with no risk to the licensing objectives. However, this route
should only be used where the agreed variations are minor and the
licensee and the responsible authority have come to a genuine
agreement. The licensing authority should be alive to any
attempts to pressure licensees into agreeing to new conditions
where
there is no evidence of a problem at the
premises and, if there is any doubt, should discuss this with the
relevant parties.
Amending or removing existing conditions
18. Licence or club
certificate conditions will normally have been volunteered or
imposed to mitigate any possible adverse impact on the licensing
objectives. In most cases therefore, any application to
remove or change the wording of a condition should be treated as a
full variation.
19. However, there may be
some circumstances when the minor variation process is appropriate.
Premises may change over time and the circumstances that originally
led to the condition being attached or volunteered may no longer
apply. For example, there may be no need for door supervision if a
bar has been converted into a restaurant. Equally some
embedded conditions may no longer apply.
20. Changes in legislation
may invalidate certain conditions. For instance, the recent
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 annulled all fire safety
related conditions imposed on licences purely for fire safety
reasons. Although the conditions do not have to be removed
from the licence, licensees and licensing authorities may agree
that this is desirable to clarify the licensee’s legal
obligations.
21. There may also be cases
where it is necessary to revise the wording of a condition that is
unclear and/or unenforceable. This would be acceptable as a minor
variation as long as the purpose of the condition and its intended
effect remain unchanged. Such a change could be expected to promote
the licensing objectives by making it easier for the licensee to
understand and comply with the condition and easier for the
licensing authority to enforce it.
Full variations process
22. Any other changes to the licence
require an application to vary under section 34 of the Act.
Club Premises
Certificates
23. The arrangements for applying for or
seeking to vary club premises certificates are extremely similar to
those for a premises licence. Clubs may also use the minor
variation process to make small changes to their certificates as
long as these could have no adverse impact on the licensing
objectives.