Temporary event notice (TEN)
A temporary or occasional event is one that:
- has alcohol included as part of the ticket price
- will attract less than 499 people
It can also be an extension of a premises licence.
A TEN will allow:
- alcohol to be sold at one-off licensable events at unlicensed premises without the need for a premises licence, club premises certificate or the presence of a personal licence holder, provided certain criteria are met
- the ticket price of an event to include free alcohol at an unlicensed premise
You can apply for a temporary event notice at GOV.UK.
The application process
A temporary event notice is served on the licensing authority, the police and environmental health. Both the police and environmental health have three working days to object after they receive the application.
If the police or environmental health object there must be a hearing at least 24 hours before the event in question unless an agreement can be reached.
Where there is an objection from the police or environmental health, conditions can be imposed on the temporary event notice which 'have effect' on the premises or any part of the premises to which the temporary event notice relates.
You have a right of appeal to the Magistrates' Court for the police and the applicant, but time constraints may prevent this if the application was made at the last minute
Limitations
The event period can last for a maximum of seven days. This is the time during which licensable activities may take place, 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. Other limitations include:
- no more than 499 people, including staff and performers, may attend the event at any one time. If there are 500 people or more, it will be necessary for a premises licence to be obtained, even if it is for a one-off event
- the same premises cannot be used under a TEN on more than 20 occasions in a calendar year (although two different rooms in the same building could be used as two separate premises - allowing 40 events)
- there must be at least 24 hours between each event at any one premises where the user of the TEN is the same person or connected persons
- although each TEN can last for a period of up to seven days, no more than 26 days can be covered for the premises in question within a calendar year (if an event starts on one day and finishes the next morning this is two days out of the limit of 26 per year)
- an individual must apply for a TEN
- if the individual holds a personal licence they can apply for up to 50 temporary event notices per calendar year, assuming they use different premises from time to time
- if the individual does not hold a personal licence they are limited to five per calendar year
Late TENs
You can apply for a late temporary event notice by giving between five and nine working days' notice, although there is a limit of 10 late TENs each calendar year for an individual holding a personal licence, and two for those who do not. The limit for people holding a personal licence is 50 in total or five for those who do not hold a personal licence.
Further information
You can find further information about temporary event notices at GOV.UK, and you can download an application form as a PDF file.