On 31 October 2016, the London Borough of Bexley joined the Licensing Partnership to process and issue licensing applications for Bexley Council.

The Licensing Partnership is a partnership of local authorities comprising Maidstone Borough Council, Sevenoaks District Council and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.

Central administration for the Licensing Partnership is based at Sevenoaks, with Licensing Officers located at each local authority. The team at Sevenoaks will input applications, process payments (except continuation fees), deal with administrative queries and issue licences.

A temporary event notice (TEN) is required if licensable activities are to be authorised for an event not already permitted under a premises licence or club premises certificate.

If you wish to provide licensable activities at a premises that does not have a licence, or at a premises that does have a licence but the licensable activities you want to provide are not authorised by that licence, you must serve a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) on the Licensing Authority. However, there are strict timescales and limitations in respect to the service of a TEN.

Note: A 'premises' includes an outdoor space.

Apply online

Apply online for a Temporary Event Notice.

The fee of £21 must accompany any notice served.

Licensable activities

Licensable activities are:

• 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

Timescales

To serve a TEN you must give at least:

• ten (10) clear working days notice between the date you serve the TEN and the date of the event. This means that the date on which you serve the TEN and the date of the event cannot be included in the notice period, nor can Saturday's, Sunday's or Bank holidays

To serve a LATE TEN you must give at least:

• five (5) clear working days notice between the date you serve the LATE TEN and the date of the event. This means that the date on which you serve the LATE TEN and the date of the event cannot be included in the notice period, nor can Saturday's, Sunday's or Bank holiday's

Note: The limitations and procedure in respect of the service of a TEN and a LATE TEN do vary.

Limitations

The following limitations apply to both TENS and LATE TENS:

• no more than 499 people, including staff and performers, may attend the event at any one time

Note: If the event is for 500 people or more, it will be necessary for a Premises Licence to be obtained, regardless of whether the event is a one-off.

• the event period must not exceed seven (7) days (168 hours)

Note: This is the time during which licensable activities may take place at the event, but they do not have to take place during the whole of that seven day period, and some activities may take place at different times to others.

• the combined maximum number of TENS or LATE TENS that can be served on the same premises in a calendar year is fifteen(15); and the combined maximum number of days a premises can provide licensable activities under a TEN or LATE TEN is twenty-one (21)

Note: An event that starts on one day and finishes the next, counts as two (2) days towards the twenty-one (21) day limit. A calendar year commences on 1 January and ends on 31 December.

• there must be at least twenty four (24) hours between each event at any one premises, regardless of whether the event is operating under a TEN or a LATE TEN
• an individual must be aged eighteen (18) years or older in order to serve a TEN or a LATE TEN

The following limitations apply just to TENS:

• if the individual serving the TEN holds a Personal Licence, they can serve a maximum of fifty (50) TENS per calendar year

Note: An individual would need to serve the TENS on different premises to qualify for this limit.

• if the individual serving the TEN does not hold a Personal Licence, they can serve a maximum of five (5) TENS per calendar year

The following limitations apply just to LATE TENS:

• if the individual serving the LATE TEN holds a Personal Licence, they can serve a maximum of five (5) LATE TENS per calendar year
• if the individual serving the LATE TEN does not hold a Personal Licence, they can serve a maximum of Two (2) TENS per calendar year

Procedure

When an individual serves a TEN or a LATE TEN they are effectively giving notice of there intention to provide licensable activities at a specific premises on the date(s) and time(s) set out in that notice. A TEN or LATE TEN must be served on the Local Authority in whose area the premises are situated.

The following procedure applies to service of both TENS and LATE TENS:

• the notice must be served on the Local Authority in whose area the premises are situated

Note: If the premises is governed by more than one Local Authority then the notice must be served on each Local Authority.

An individual can serve notice on a Local Authority either in person, by post or electronically.

• if an individual serves a notice in person or by post they must also serve a copy on the Police and the Environmental Health Service. If they serve notice electronically then it sits with the Local Authority to notify the Police and Environmental Health Service
• the notice must be completed in full and accompanied by the fee of £21
• the Local Authority will acknowledge receipt of all 'properly' served notices within two (2) working days, starting on the day after they receive it. To be 'properly' served the notice must be completed in full, accompanied by the fee of £21 and received by the Local Authority in accordance with the timescales and limitations set out above

Note: Notices that do not comply with the timescales are automatically invalid. Where a notice exceeds the limitations the Local Authority will issue a 'counter-notice', the effect of which is to prevent the event from going ahead.

• the Police and Environmental Health service have three working days to object to all properly served notices, starting from the day after they receive it. Objections can be on any of the four licensing objectives

The following procedure applies to the receipt of an objection following service of a TEN:

• the Local Authority will arrange for the TEN and the objection to it to be heard by the Licensing Sub Committee. The hearing date will be at least 24 hours prior to the event date
• if the Sub Committee dismiss the objection the TEN will stand and the event may go ahead. If they uphold the objection they will serve a notice, the effect of which is to prevent the event from proceeding. The Sub Committee also have the power to impose conditions on the TEN, the effect of which is to allow the event to proceed subject to the conditions they have imposed
• all parties have a right of appeal to the Magistrates Court in respect of any decision the Sub Committee may make

The following procedure applies to the receipt of an objection following service of a LATE TEN:

• if an objection is made to a LATE TEN, its effect is to automatically prevent the event from going ahead. The Local Authority will not hold a hearing and there is no right of appeal to the Magistrates. However, the service of the LATE TEN will be included when calculating the limitations set out above

Will tacit consent apply?

Yes. This means that you will be able to act as though your notice is properly served and that the event may go ahead if you have not heard from the Local Authority by the target dates set out in the above procedure.

Regulation summary

A summary of the regulation relating to this Notice.

Additional information

Whilst the Licensing Authority may authorise the TEN, we would remind you that it is a matter for you to ensure that the event fully complies with any other regulatory and legal requirements. In particular, you should be aware that the service of the Notice does not in any way exempt you from the need to ensure that you comply with any planning restrictions that may be in force for the premises.

Related document

Statement of Licensing Policy 7 January 2021 to 6 January 2026 (PDF)