Licensing Act 2003

The Licensing Act2003 details the following as licensable activities:

• The retail sale of alcohol
• The supply of alcohol
• The provision of regulated entertainment; and
• The provision of late night refreshment.

The Act provides four different types of authorisation for licensable activities. They are:

• A premises licence
• A club premises certificate
• Temporary event notices
• Personal licence - to be used in conjunction with a premises licence.

The Licensing Act 2003 also requires Licensing Authorities to prepare and publish a statement of its licensing policy every five years.

The Policy is a good starting point for those that wish to apply for a licence, current licence holders in the borough, local residents and responsible authorities.

View the Statement of Licensing Policy 2021 - 2026 (PDF, 311 KB)(opens new window)

Within the policy it states that the Council from time to time will produce 'Local Licensing Guidance'. The guidance is to assist applicants and current licence holders in their understanding of local issues. As such the Council has produced an interactive mapping tool to enable free and ready access to data relevant to different localities across the borough. 

View the interactive mapping tool (opens new window)

The Home Office has produced a revised guidance document on the Licensing Act (PDF, 1 MB)(opens new window).

Public Licensing Register

View the Public Licensing Register (opens new window)

Responsible authorities 

View the Responsible Authorities contact list (PDF, 118 KB)(opens new window)

Current licensing applications

View current licensing applications