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Responsible Licensee

The Responsible Haringey Retailer Scheme

Here in Haringey licensed premises play an important role in the life of the borough, they offer employment opportunity, and the pubs, clubs and restaurants make the borough a vibrant and diverse place to be for socialising and entertainment. Local shops become an important part in the make of the communities. We all have a duty to ensure that your business is encourage and enabled to be a responsible retailer.

Controls on alcohol sales

The Government will be introducing new controls for Licensing Authorities in regard to the sale of alcohol at licensed premises. These will be attached as mandatory licensing conditions to all Premises Licences relating to the alcohol sales under the Licensing Act 2003. They are aimed at irresponsible drinking and preventing clear risks of ‘binge drinking’.

Note: Conditions 1,2 and 3 came into force on 6 April 2010, whilst 4 and 5 give the trade further time to prepare before they are introduced on 1 October 2010. Conditions 1, 3 and 5 do not apply to premises licences where it authorises only the sale by retail off the premises (off-licences)

All licence holders should note that condition 4 requires them to have a written policy in place on underage sales.

The five conditions for licensees are:

  1. Generally, to take all reasonable steps to ensure that staff do not carry out, arrange or participate in any irresponsible promotions in relation to the premises. For example, games or other activities which require, encourage, or are designed to require individuals to drink a quantity of alcohol within a time limit, drink as much alcohol as possible, provide unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee to the public, or provide free or discounted alcohol or any other thing as a prize to encourage or reward the purchase and consumption of alcohol.
  2. To ensure that no alcohol is dispensed directly by one person into the mouth of another - the so called ‘dentist’s chair’ being the main example.
  3. To ensure that free tap water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available.
  4. To ensure that an age verification policy applies to the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol. The policy must require individuals who appear to the Licensee to be under 18 years of age to produce on request, before being served alcohol, identification bearing their photograph, date of birth and a holographic mark.
  5. To ensure that where any of the following alcoholic drinks are sold or supplied for consumption on the premises it is available to customers in the following measures –
    (a) beer or cider: a ½ pint;
    (b) gin, rum, vodka or whisky: 25 ml or 35 ml; and
    (c) still wine in a glass: 125 ml; and
    (d) in all cases, customers are made aware of the availability of these measures.
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Underage sales and your license

What can you do?

All of your staff that serves your customers should be given training to ensure they understand the rules about age restricted sales. If a sale is made, you will want to be able to prove that you have given training, so keep a written record of it, dated and signed by both of you.

You cannot expect your staff to be able to judge the age of teenagers. The defence that nobody could reasonably have suspected that they were under 18 means just that – even if they perhaps thought someone was older. By using such good practices as the Challenge 21 policy avoids any doubt and is acknowledged as best practice.

If a customer appears to be under 21 they must prove they are over the legal age for that product, for example 18 for alcohol.

Your staff may feel uncomfortable refusing sales in case they are subjected to abuse or violence. You need to be sure that all front line staff have the necessary skills to deal with this; it is an essential part of the job. By displaying materials both inside the premises and outside will make it clear to customers and help to discourage attempts. The Challenge 21 scheme helps because it empowers staff to request proof of age without the confrontation associated with telling a young adult that they still look like a child.

It is very important to monitor compliance with the instructions and training that you give. If you instruct all staff to use the refusals log every time they refuse a sale you can check it each week to look for trends. For example, if all staff but one are refusing sales and noting this in the log, there is a good chance that the one who isn’t using the log is putting your premises licence at risk.

The installation and use of CCTV cameras throughout the premises and at the point of sale is also a valuable deterrent to under age sales.

You will no doubt have noticed that there are certain times (usually Friday and Saturday evenings) when more attempts to buy alcohol take place. Consider supporting staff at those times by being in the premises yourself, or arranging additional cover.

What can go wrong?

When a licensee is interviewed under caution following sales to children, the most common ‘excuses’ are:

  • "I / we were very busy"
  • "I (or my employee) was distracted by someone who has been refused before"
  • "The child looked about the same age as my son/daughter/brother etc who is 18"
  • "I trained the assistant, but they let me down"
  • "It was a new employee who was still training"

Only the last excuse would be acceptable, but you would need to provide proof of the training. You would also be expected to provide proof that the expectations of the assistant were reasonable – could they really be expected to tell the difference between a 17 year old and an 18 year old, or are they instructed to ask for proof?

The new mandatory codes requires a licence holder to have a written policy on how they will tackle or deal with under age sales. All these matters highlighted are valuable tools or good practices that you should look to employ.

Beware of fake Identification.

Fake proof of age and identity cards are freely available through shops and the Internet. Instruct your staff only to accept PASS accredited proof of age cards – Connexions, Validate UK, Portman, or Citizen Card. Other than these, only a passport or photo driver licence should be accepted. Student union cards should certainly not be accepted.

Make sure your staffs are aware of this, and be sure that they understand that they cannot rely on other types of proof of age. Include it in the training record that you get them to sign.

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Off-Watch scheme

We want to help you in your business by starting up an Off-watch scheme across the borough. We want to support traders to help prevent sales to under-age people and those buying alcohol who are already drunk. We believe that this scheme will help to deter youngsters from trying to purchase alcohol and will support shopkeepers to refuse a sale. We will aim to provide you with the tools and knowledge to deal with these and other issues.

Code of Practice for off-licences

  • Compliance with the law
  • Not to sell age restricted products to anyone suspected of being underage.
  • To display clear signage about age restrictions
  • Adopt Challenge 21 and always ask for proof of age.
  • Train staff on age restricted products and keep a record of training.
  • Not to sell to adults suspected of buying on behalf of underage persons
  • Not to sell to customers who are already drunk

In turn we will promise to;

  • Respond as quickly and actively to your concerns about crime and disorder/anti social behaviour fuelled by alcohol.
  • We will work with Retail of Alcohol Standards Group (RASG) to help to provide training for you and your staff.
  • We will keep you informed of best practices and changes in the law that might affect your business.
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Pub Watch scheme

There is an active Pub watch scheme in operation in the borough. The scheme is operated by the Police and meets every six weeks. Pubwatch members take part in local initiatives such as campaigns to help reduce theft of handbags and mobile phones from their premises. The scheme provides information of people banned from all Pubwatch venues. Some of the licenses have attendance at Pubwatch as a condition of the license and so are duty bound to attend.

For more information about Pubwatch please contact the Police Licensing officer on 020 3276 0150.

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Keeping the Licensing Team informed

If you hold a license under the Licensing Act 2003 you must remember to keep Haringey Licensing Authority up to date with any changes that affect your license. If you hold a personal license you must tell us if you change your name or address.

You must contact us if your details change as a premises license holder, club premises certificate holder or a designated premises supervisor. If you sell the business, or go into administration/insolvency or declared bankrupt you must inform the Licensing Team.

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Offences under Licensing Act 2003

There are a number of offences that as a license holder you will need to mindful of, it should be noted that a number of the offences are general ones which can apply to anyone working on licensed premises. You may access the list here if you are a Premises Licence holder, Personal Licences holder or use Temporary Events.

Premises Licence Holder

  • Failure to notify Licensing Authority of change in name or address – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to notify existing premises’ supervisor that Premises Licence has been varied to replace them with another or that such application has been refused – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Failure to provide Premises’ Licence (or statement of reasons for failure to do so) to Licensing Authority within 14 days of direction from the premises supervisor who has given notice of intention to cease. – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Failure to notify designated premises supervisor of application for transfer with interim effect (applicant and premises supervisor not the same person) – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Failure to notify premises supervisor of interim authority notice – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Failure to produce Premises Licence at the request of the Licensing Authority so that it may be amended – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to keep Premises Licence or certified copy at the premises – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to display summary of Premises Licence or certified copy and notice specifying any nominated person – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to produce Premises Licence or certified copy to authorised person for examination – Level 2 £500 fine.

Personal Licence Holder

  • Failure to notify Licensing Authority of relevant offence or foreign offence during grant or renewal – Level 4 £2,500 fine.
  • Failure to notify Licensing Authority of change of name or address of Personal Licence holder – Level 2 £500 fine. Failure to notify court of Personal Licence when being dealt with for relevant offence – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to notify Licensing Authority of conviction for relevant or foreign offence – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to produce Personal Licence within 14 days to Licensing authority to be updated – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to produce Personal Licence to authorised person or a constable – Level 2 £500 fine.

Temporary activities

  • Obstructing authorised officer from inspecting temporary event premises to assess impact upon crime prevention objective – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Failure to display Temporary Event Notice, or keep the notice in the custody of the premises user (who is at the premises) or nominated person (a notice of nomination must also be on display at the premises) – Level 2 £500 fine.

General offences

  • Failure to afford entry to a constable or authorised person for purposes of assessing the impact of the grant of a licence, provisional statement, variation or review of licence upon the licensing objectives – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Knowingly allow or carry on unauthorised licensable activities – 6 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
  • Unauthorised exposure for sale of alcohol – 6 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
  • Unauthorised possession of alcohol with intent to sell or supply in club – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Allowing disorderly conduct on licensed premises – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Sells, attempts to sell or allows sale of alcohol to person who is drunk – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Obtaining or attempting to obtain alcohol to person who is drunk – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Failure to leave licensed premises or attempt to enter premises following request by a person who is drunk or disorderly. Request from constable or authorised person, e.g. Premises Licence Holder, Premises Supervisor etc – Level 1 £250 fine.
  • Keeping unlawfully imported goods on relevant premises – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Sale of alcohol in or from moving vehicles – 3 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
  • Sells or attempts to sell or allows sale on train contrary to prohibition order – 3 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
  • False statement in connection with licensing application – Level 5 £5,000 fine.
  • Obstructing entry of a constable or authorised person to investigate unauthorised use for licensable activity – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Sale/supply of alcohol to under 18 – Level 5 £5,000 fine.
  • Allowing sale/supply of alcohol to under 18 – Level 5 £5,000 fine.
  • Sale/supply of liquor confectionery to under 16 – Level 2 £500 fine.
  • Purchase/supply of alcohol by or on behalf of under 18 – Level 3 £1,000 fine (person under 18); Level 5 £5,000 fine (person on behalf of under 18).
  • Consumption of alcohol by under 18 or knowingly allowing the consumption to occur – Level 3 £1,000 fine (under 18) Level 5 £5,000 fine (person permitting).
  • Delivering or allowing delivery to under 18 – Level 5 £5,000 fine.
  • Sending an under 18 to obtain alcohol for consumption off the premises – Level 5 £5,000 fine.
  • Allowing under 18 to sell alcohol – Level 1 £250 fine.
  • Breach of closure order in identified area – Level 3 £1,000 fine.
  • Breach of closure order for identified premises – 3 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
  • Breach of Magistrates closure order – 3 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
  • Breach of closure order pending reconsideration of conditions – 3 months prison sentence and/or £20,000 fine.
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Contact us

The Licensing Team
Units 271-272
Lee Valley Technopark
Ashley Road
Tottenham
N17 9LN

Tel 020 8489 8232
Fax 020 8489 5133
Email licensing@haringey.gov.uk

Attached Files

Page Last Updated: 13 December 2012

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