Licensing

Current Licensing Applications

For a full list of Current Licensing Applications, please visit our Licensing Applications Under Consultation page.

Licensing Act 2003

The Licensing Act 2003 will bring significant changes to the way licensed premises are regulated. The six existing licensing regimes covering liquor, public entertainment, theatres, cinemas, late night refreshment premises and night cafes will be brought together under a single integrated system.

The intention is to provide greater freedom and flexibility for the leisure and hospitality industry, with an emphasis on more choice for consumers. It will also cut a considerable amount of red tape for both local authorities and industry.

The Act requires each local authority to develop and publish a Statement of Licensing Policy (available in the attached files section below) in line with guidance published by the Government. It takes into account examples of best practice used elsewhere in dealing with the regulation of licensed activities. The policy must promote the four licensing objectives set out by the Act. These are:

The prevention of crime and disorder
The prevention of public nuisance
Public safety at licensed premises
The protection of children from harm

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The key measures of Act include

It will no longer be the responsibility of Magistrates’ courts to grant liquor licences. Following a transitional period, Haringey Council will become the licensing authority for the area.
Flexible opening hours for premises, designed to reduce public disorder associated with fixed closing times, allowing the potential for 24 hour opening, 7 days a week. This is subject to the consideration of the impact on local residents and businesses - licensing representations.
Both applicants for licences and objectors will have the right to appeal to the Magistrates’ court if their representations have not been taken properly into account.
The police will be given tougher powers to close licensed premises for up to 24 hours where disorder is occurring.

Future licence applications will require the applicant to apply to the local council for all types of licence. Current licence holders will have to apply to the Council to have existing licences converted to the new type.

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New types of licence

The Licensing Act 2003 states that a licence is required where any of the following licensable activities are taking place:

The sale of or supply of alcohol
The supply of alcohol to members of registered clubs and their guests
The provision of regulated entertainment (e.g. performance of a play, an exhibition of a film, sporting event)
The supply of hot food or drink between the hours of 11pm and 5am, for consumption on or off the premises (this will include mobile food vans).

The Licensing Act 2003 introduces four new types of licence, which are as follows:

Completed forms should be returned to the relevant authorities as shown in Licensing Contacts.

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Ward Councillors as Interested Parties

As from 29 January the law has changed, giving ward councillors enhanced roles, and any member will be able to both make representations and potentially call for reviews of licences. As ever there are some caveats, the foremost being evidence to support your case.

In summary, this is a significant change from the previous situation, where individual Members could only make such representations if they lived in or had a business in the vicinity of the premises, or had been specifically asked to represent a constituent at a hearing.

However, the statutory constraints on the reasons for representations or reviews still apply – they may only be made on the grounds of one or more of the licensing objectives, which are:

the prevention of crime and disorder;
the prevention of public nuisance;
public safety;
the protection of children from harm.

Representations or applications for review on other grounds cannot be considered. For instance, public health is not a statutory objective and cannot be considered.

Given the quasi-judicial nature of the proceedings, all representations or reviews:

must be in writing, showing the name and address of the writer (the representation/review application must be published as part of the process) – there is a prescribed form for reviews on the Licensing webpage;
must clearly set out the likely effects the grant of the licence would have on the promotion of at least one of the licensing objectives;
must present evidence in support of the representation or review.
must clearly relate to the premises for which application is being made.

For example, representations on the basis of general noise and disturbance, without evidence of a causal link to specific premises, will carry little or no weight with the Sub-Committee.

There are particular rules in respect of petitions which are unlikely to carry as much weight with the Sub-Committee as letters from individuals. Individually produced representations will inevitably carry more weight than "form" letters where an individual's details have been added.

The Act also requires the Licensing Authority to disregard representations that are considered to be frivolous or vexatious.

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EU Services Online Application

Haringey Council is working on providing online applications that will fulfil the requirements of the European Service Directive. The licensing regimes that are within the scope of the directive will have online application processes and we will update this page accordingly.

The EU Service Directive was adopted by EU countries in December 2006. The Directive aims to open up the European internal market to cross-border trade in services by making it easier for service providers to set up business or offer their services in other EU countries. The Directive imposes a number of requirements on Local Authorities. These are:

The screening and possible adjustment of the existing legislation and the authorisation schemes in them that are related to the relevant service
The electronic completion of procedures
Administrative cooperation
Regulation in connection with the rights of recipients of services

We are working closely with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) to set up links with their Point of Single Contact (PSC). The PSC will ensure that applicants will be able to access information relating to the Council's licensing regimes and procedures electronically. It will also be possible to apply for such an authorisation electronically via the PSC which will include the submission of additional documents and the payment of fees online. However we will not be able to accommodate payments of fees online until the new year.

Not all licensing regimes or application types are under the scope of the EU Service Directive. A list of those that will be within the scope will be added here at a later date. The EU Service Directive does impose a deadline for all local authorities to have the in scope applications and associated documentation online by. We are working to meet this deadline and will provide updates.

For further information on the EU Service Directive please visit the BIS website in the external links section below.

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Licences dealt with by external agencies

The Commission for Social Care Inspection deals with licensing of Nursing Agencies.

The Public Carriage Office deals with licences for:

Taxis: Hackney carriage vehicles and drivers
Private hire vehicles, drivers and operators.

To find out more about these external agencies, follow the links in the external links section at the bottom of this page.

Licensing complaints

If you wish to make a complaint about any Licensing matters, please use our Licensing Complaints e-form to log your complaint. Please provide us with as much information as you can with your contact details in order for us to deal with your request quickly.

Alcohol Health Risk

It is important that the message of possible risk to health through the consumption of alcohol is highlighted and understood. For adults, we need to be aware of the amount of alcohol that is consumed. The link below in the external links section takes you to the NHS help page and allows you to do a quick test on your alcohol intake.

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Contact

Licensing Team
Commercial Services
Urban Environment
Units 271-272
Lee Valley Technopark
Ashley Road
Tottenham
N17 9LN

Tel 020 8489 8232
Fax 020 8489 5528

Email licensing@haringey.gov.uk.

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Attached Files
Filename	Filetype	Size
New Statement of Licensing Policy .pdf	PDF	369K
service standards - licensing administration.pdf	PDF	194K
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