Alcohol licensing advice and guidance

General advice and guidance for alcohol, entertainment and late night refreshment licensing.

How to seek a review of a licence or certificate

Where a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate has an effect and it is believed that one or more of the licensing objectives are not being promoted, then there is the ability to request a formal review.

When submitting an application for review it is essential that it is supported by evidence. Following receipt of an application there is a consultation period during which other parties are entitled to submit representations. At the close of this a hearing of the Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee will be convened at which the matter will be determined.

Please be aware that the name and address of any person who has submitted a request for a review will ordinarily be disclosed to the licence/certificate holder and are a matter of public record.

Whilst it is possible to make an application for review, please do not hesitate to contact the Licensing Team in order to discuss your concerns as we will work with operators of licensed premises to resolve issues informally.

Submitting a review application

You can either:

Email an application form (L20) to: licensing@chichester.gov.uk
Post an application form (L20) to: Licensing Team, Housing and Environment Services, Chichester District Council, East Pallant House, 1 East Pallant, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1TY.

L20 Application for the review of a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate (v4) (Word doc, 194 KB)

How to make a licensing complaint

If you wish to make a complaint in relation to a licensed premises, please complete and return to the Licensing Team a completed 'Licensed Premises Complaint Sheet' (L48). We will investigate your complaint and, on most occasions, are successful at resolving matters informally.

If there is an alleged breach of a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate it will be investigated by the Licensing Team under the Licensing Act 2003. Where a complaint relates to noise nuisance, but the premises is being operated in accordance with the licence/certificate, then the matter will be referred to the Environmental Management Team to investigate under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and possibly with a view to instigating a review under the Licensing Act 2003. For further information regarding noise nuisance matters please refer to our report a nuisance page. If necessary the Licensing Team and Environmental Management Team will undertake a joint investigation.

Unless we have your permission, we will not disclose the source of a complaint, although in some instances the premises may have a strong inclination as to where the complaint has originated from, especially when it is in relation to an on-going dispute.

Licensed Premises Complaint

If you wish to make a complaint about a licensed premises outside of normal office hours, please contact Chichester District Council's emergency out of hours. If a number of complaints are received regarding a particular premises, then the duty Environmental Health Officer may be contacted.

Licensing Team

Address:

Chichester District Council
East Pallant House
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1TY
United Kingdom

Telephone: 01243534740

Email: licensing@chichester.gov.uk

Environmental Protection

Address:

Chichester District Council
East Pallant House
1 East Pallant
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1TY
United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 01243 534598

Email: environmentalprotect@chichester.gov.uk

Chichester District Council Emergency Out of Hours

Address:

United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 01243 785339

If the call involves serious threats to life and / or property, the emergencies service should be contacted on 999. This out of hours emergency telephone line should only be used in the following circumstances: reporting imminent flooding to a property, chemical drums found on the beach, oil pollution or any issue that requires the immediate attention of Chichester District Council.

How to make a representation in respect of a licensing application

Under the Licensing Act 2003 any of the 'Responsible Authorities' (e.g. Sussex Police, West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Environmental Management Team etc) or any other 'person' (e.g. a member of the public, Parish Council etc) is entitled to make a 'representation' in opposition to, or in support of, the following applications:

New or full variation Premises Licence/Club Premises Certificate
Minor variation Premises Licence/Club Premises Certificate
Provisional Statement
Review of a Premises Licence/Club Premises Certificate

Representations in respect of the above applications must be received within 28 days of the application being made, other than minor variations which must be received within 10 working days.

Before submitting

You can view details of all current applications received within the last month, and we would strongly recommend you do so prior to submitting a representation. If having considered an application you believe that one or more of the four licensing objectives (i.e. the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and protection of children from harm) would not be promoted if the application was granted as applied for, please submit a representation by the relevant closing date. However if you wish to discuss a particular application please do not hesitate to contact the Licensing Team.

How to submit

Representations can be submitted by either:

Visiting Public Access (opens new window) and using the 'Comments' tab
Completing our representation form:

Upon receipt of a representation it will be carefully considered so as to ensure that it meets with the statutory requirements. In the event that we believe it may be possible to resolve any concerns expressed, then we will enter into mediation between the various parties. If mediation is successful the representation would have to be withdrawn and the licence/certificate would be granted on the basis of the application and subsequent mediation.

If mediation proves to be unsuccessful, then the application would be referred to a hearing of the Alcohol & Entertainment Licensing Sub-committee to be determined. The applicant along with any party who has submitted a representation would be invited to the hearing (any of these parties could be represented by any person whether or not that person is legally qualified) and would have the opportunity to address the sub-committee.

Please be aware that the name and address of any person who has submitted a representation will ordinarily be disclosed to the applicant and are a matter of public record.

Name: Licensing Team

Address:

Chichester District Council
East Pallant House
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 1TY
United Kingdom

Telephone: 01243534740

Email: licensing@chichester.gov.uk

Licensable activities/qualifying club activities and statutory guidance

Section 1 of the Licensing Act 2003 defines 'licensable activities' as:

The sale by retail of alcohol;
The supply of alcohol by, or on behalf of, a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club;
The provision of regulated entertainment, and;
The provision of late night refreshment

For the above purposes the following licensable activities are also qualifying club activities:

The supply of alcohol by, or on behalf of, a club to, or to the order of, a member of the club;
The sale by retail of alcohol by, or on behalf of, a club to a guest of a member of the club for consumption on the premises where the sale takes place, and;
The provision of regulated entertainment where that provision is by, or on behalf of, a club for members of the club or members of the club and their guests

With regard to regulated entertainment there are a number of specific exemptions. In order to assist in determining whether a particular activity constitutes regulated entertainment guidance is available fromEntertainment Licensing (opens new window). Guidance on what activities constitute late night refreshment is available from Late Night Refreshment Licensing (opens new window).

The current guidance by the Home Office is published revised guidance (opens new window) under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003. This provides guidance to Licensing Authorities in relation to carrying out their functions under the Act and will be of interest to those who run licensed premises, their legal advisers and the general public. It also contains information regarding Magistrates' Courts hearing appeals against licensing decisions.

Compliance information and advice

This Licensing Authority has produced a number of forms/posters that maybe of interest and use to those who are involved with operating premises licensed under the Licensing Act 2003.

Premises Licence - Age Verification Policy - At all premises licensed to sell alcohol, the Premises Licence holder is required to have in place an age verification policy. This Licensing Authority strongly recommends that such a policy is written. Displaying an awareness poster can also assist with reminding customers and staff of the age verification policy adopted by the premises.

Authorisation to Sell Alcohol - Every sale of alcohol that takes place in a premises that has the benefit of a Premises Licence, has to be made or authorised by a person who holds a Personal Licence. This Licensing Authority strongly recommends that those persons authorised to make such sales are given written authorisation.

Refusal Log Sheet - It is extremely useful to record occasions when sales of age restricted products have been refused. Such records may assist with a defence of due diligence in the event of an offence being committed.

Proxy Sales Poster - A person commits an offence if they buy or attempt to buy alcohol on behalf of an individual aged under 18. This practice is commonly referred to as a 'proxy' sale. To prevent such sales taking place, a poster has been produced and this is available in English, Polish and Portuguese.

British Institute of Innkeeping (BII) (opens new window)

CitizenCard - Proof of Age Scheme (opens new window)

Gov.uk - Entertainment Licensing (opens new window)

Gov.uk - Alcohol licensing (opens new window)

Gov.uk - Late night refreshment licensing (opens new window)

Institute of Licensing (opens new window)

Challenge 21 Awareness Poster (PDF, 242 KB)

Challenge 25 Awareness Poster (PDF, 274 KB)

Refusal Log Sheet (Word doc, 61 KB)

L56 Authorisation to sell alcohol (Word doc, 62 KB)

L57 Proxy Poster (English) (v1) (PDF, 212 KB)

L58 Proxy Poster (Polish) (v1) (PDF, 114 KB)