Temporary Event Notice - guidance

 You will need to provide us with a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) if

• you want to carry out a ‘licensable activity’ on unlicensed premises in the Borough of Waverley (a public event where licensable activities are carried out on unlicensed premises).

or

• a particular licensable activity is not included in the terms of your existing licence, for example holding a wedding reception at a community centre (a public event where licensable activities outside of an existing premises licence or club premises certificate).

Licensable activities

Licensable activity includes:

• selling alcohol
• serving alcohol to members of a private club
• providing entertainment, such as music, dancing or indoor sporting events
• serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am (late night refreshment)

Waverley Safety Advisory Group can provide support and guidance if you are planning an outdoor event.

Timescales

TENS must be submitted at least 10 working days prior to the start of the event. In exceptional circumstances, a ‘late TEN’ can be submitted which must provide at least 5 working days notice. This does not include the day the licensing Authority received the notice or the day of the event.

• You must:
  • apply at least 10 clear working days before your event, excluding the day we receive your application and the day of the event. See also Late TENS below,
  • apply as an individual, not an organisation, and be 18 years or over
  • have had no more than 5 TENs a year unless you have a personal licence to sell alcohol in which case you can have up to 50 a year. You need a TEN for each event you hold on the same premises.

• Your event must:
  • have fewer than 500 people at all times including staff running the event
  • last no more than 168 hours (7 days)
  • have a gap of at least 24 hours between separate but consecutive events

• At the premises:
  • no more than 20 TENs are allowed at the same, single premises in one year
  • If an event straddles two calendar years, it will count against the limits on temporary event notices for each year.  However, only one notice needs to be given. The limits are:

    • for event periods occurring wholly or partly in 2022 or 2023, up to 20 times in the calendar year for each premises; 

    • for other event periods, 15 times in a calendar year for each premises; 

    • for event periods (or any part of a period) occurring in 2022 or 2023, 26 days in the calendar year for each premises;

    • for other event periods, 21 days in a calendar year for each premises;

    • 50 per personal licence holder each calendar year; and

    • 5 for non-holders  each calendar year. 

    • the total length of all the events together must not be more than 26 days.

We cannot refuse a notice unless the police or environmental health object to it. They must do this within 3 working days of receiving it. They can only object if they think your event could:

• lead to crime and disorder
• cause a public nuisance
• be a threat to public safety
• put children at risk of harm

If there’s an objection, the council's licensing committee will hold a meeting within 7 working days from the end of the period in which objections can be made. The meeting will be no later than 24 hours before the event (unless everyone agrees that a meeting is not needed).

At the meeting, the committee will either approve, add conditions or reject the notice.

If the police or environmental health object to a late TEN, there will not be a meeting, the TEN will be refused and you cannot hold the event.

If a TEN is refused following a hearing, you can appeal to the local Magistrates’ Court within 21 days of the decision to refuse.

Appeals cannot be made later than 5 working days before the date of your event.

You must keep your TEN in a safe place where the event is held.

You must also display a copy of the notice where it can be easily seen.

You no longer need to upload a risk assessment and Covid checklist with your application. However, we recommend that you do your own risk assessment and include Covid within that.  See the 'Further help and covid guidance' section for more information. 

Apply for a TEN online at least 10 working days before the event.  The police and environmental health team will receive a copy of your application.

Apply for a TEN online

Late TENs applications

You can apply for up to 2 'late TENs' a year if you do not hold a personal licence to sell alcohol. 

These can only be submitted between 5 and 9 clear working days before the event.  

If you hold a personal licence, the limit is 10.  Late TENs count towards the total number of permitted TENs.

Check our fees

You could be fined if you make any false statements in your application, or face prosecution if you breach the terms of the notice.

If you do not have a TEN and carry out an activity that you should have a licence for (or allow your premises to be used for one), you can be fined, sent to prison for up to 6 months, or both.

The Government has published its plan for living with COVID.

COVID is still present in the community. As the organiser you must take all reasonable steps to protect the safety of those working or attending the event. You no longer need to include a risk assessment with your application. However we recommend that you do your own risk assessment and include Covid within that. Guidance is available from HSE, together with a risk assessment template.

You should continue to follow the guidance: Working safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) - Guidance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) to keep yourself and others safe.  

For COVID advice contact Environmentalhealth@waverley.gov.uk or call 01483 523393