GN-Q LA2003 Applying for a Review
Purpose
This guidance explains how members of the public or businesses can apply for a review of a premises licence or club premises certificate.
The guidance explains how to make a relevant application, what happens once the application is received and the possible outcomes of a review.
Background information
Occasionally things go wrong once a premises licence has been granted. Bad management of premises may lead to problems such as noise, litter or antisocial behaviour.
A review is a process that investigates if a premises licence or a club premises certificate is having an ongoing negative impact on one or more of the licensing objectives. A premises licence can be reviewed at any time and the review process forms one of the main safeguards in the Licensing Act.
A review of a licence allows the licensing authority to look at the licence again and if necessary, change the licence conditions or, in extreme cases, suspend or revoke all or part of the licence. These decisions are made by one of the licensing authorities sub committee at a special review hearing.
Who can apply for a review
At any stage, following the grant of a licence, anyone may apply to the licensing authority to review the licence if there are grounds relating to the licensing objectives.
On what basis can someone apply for a review?
Representations must relate to one or more of the licensing objectives:
- Crime and disorder: This related to any crime, disorder or anti-social behaviour related to the management of the premises. The licence holder cannot be responsible for the conduct of individuals once they leave the vicinity of the premises.
- Public safety: This relates to the safety of the public on the premises.
- Prevention of public nuisance: This can relate to hours of operation, noise, vibration, noxious smells, light pollution or litter.
- Protection of children from harm: This relates to protecting children from the activities carried out at the premises. The law already provides special protections for children, such as making it illegal for children under 18 to buy alcohol.
Evidence gathering
If you are considering applying for a review then you should start gathering evidence to support your application. The following would be suitable evidence:
- A diary/record of events or incidents
- Sound recordings
- A record of complaints made to authorities
- Supporting statements from fellow neighbours/witnesses or support of one or more of the responsible authorities.
If you do collect such evidence then you should attach it to your application to strengthen your case. You may also submit additional evidence to backup your case, no later than ten days before the hearing, so we have sufficient time to distribute it to all the relevant parties.
Making the application
To make an applicationtoreview you should complete the application form (available from Entertainment Licensing) and send it along with supporting evidence to:
- EntertainmentLicensing
- Each of the Responsible Authorities
- Premises licence holder
- If the premises is managed by a pub company or chain, you may wish to send a copy of the review to the manager of designated premises supervisor.
If you want to ask another person such as an MP or local Councillor to apply for a review on your behalf you are able to do so as long as they agree. It is best to make such a request in writing so that the individual can show he or she was asked. It will be up to the MP or councillor to decide whether they agree to your request. They do not have to do so, however most elected representatives are happy to help residents with this sort of issue and there is no need for them to live near the premises in question for them to be able to make representations on behalf of residents that do.
Personal information
As the Act requires you to send a copy of your application to the premises licence holder, your personal details will be made known to the premises. If you do ask a councillor or MP to make the review request on your behalf it is possible for your details to remain anonymous although as a review request has to be supported by evidence such as a diary or eye witness accounts it is still possible your details may be disclosed at the subsequent committee hearing.
If you are concerned about your personal details being released or problems or possible intimidation but you stillwish to make a review application please contact us first so we can discuss any options available. You may also wish to ask the police or another appropriate responsible authority to apply for a review on your behalf.
Reviewing a number of premises
A review must relate specifically to a premises licence which relates to individual premises so you are not able to make one review for a group of premises or geographical area. You could, however, apply for a number of reviews at the same time but each review must stand in its own right with specific evidence relating to that premises.
What happens next?
We will follow the guidance issued by the Government and will check each application to make sure it is not “frivolous”, “vexatious” or “repetitious”. For example, we might take the view that an application is vexatious if it relates to disputes between rival businesses or frivolous if the application lacks seriousness or is particularly trivial.
A “repetitious” application for a review is one that is identical or very similar to:
- A previous application for a review which has already been determined
- Representations that my have been made when the premises licence was first granted
If we decide the application is similar to a previous representation we would then decide if a reasonable amount of time has passed to meanthe review application should be accepted. In making this decision we will follow guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which suggests that more than one review from a member of the public should not be allowed within a period of twelve months on similar grounds, unless there are special circumstances.
If, following the above checks we decide the application is relevant we will then advertise the review. We will do this by displaying a blue notice at the premises and at our offices for 28 consecutive days starting the day after the day on which the application is given to us. We will also place information about the review on our website. Other people will then have this time to add further representations to the review process.
Hearings
Once the notice period has ended we will arrange a review hearing. We aim to hold the hearing within 20 working days from the end of the notice period. We will give you at least ten working days notice of the date of the hearing.
Hearings will generally be held in public, unless we decide it is in the public interest to hold all, or part of the hearing in private. A hearing will normally take the form of a discussion and will be led by a committee of three, locally elected members. This is the licensing sub-committee drawn from the full licensing committee of 15 councillors.
The committee will explain the procedure to be followed. It will determine any request for additional persons to appear at the hearing. It will consider the evidence produced in support before the hearing and can consider evidence produced by a party at the hearing, but only if all parties agree. Cross examination of another party during a hearing is normally not allowed unless the committee thinks it necessary. The parties are entitled to address the authority and, if they have been permission by the authority to do so, will be given equal time to ask any questions of any other party. The committee will disregard any information it considers to be irrelevant.
It is important that you consider what you are going to say at the hearing, as the licence or certificate holder and the committee will have seen your application for review, and may get the chance to question what you are saying.
Outcomes
At the outcome of the hearing the licensing sub committee will decide whether to:
- Leave the licence unchanged
- Modify the conditions or the licence e.g. alter, omit or add new conditions as necessary
- To exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence for a given amount of time
- To remove the designated premises supervisor
- To suspend the licence for a period no exceeding three months
- To revoke the licence
Postal addresses
Please send the review application form and all supporting evidence to each of the responsible authorities. The details of which can be found in the guidance note GN-d Responsible Authorities.
Use of personal data
Leeds City Council is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided on your application for the prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.
Contact details:
Entertainment LicensingPhone:0113 378 5029
Leeds City CouncilFax:0113 336 7124
Civic HallWebsite:www.leeds.gov.uk/licensing
Leeds, LS1 1UREmail:
This document should be used as a guidance tool. Only the courts can give an authoritative opinion on statute law. Every effort has been made to ensure this document is both comprehensive and accurate but in an attempt to simplify the law omissions have been made. Please refer to the Licensing Act 2003 and associated regulations for full details of the law. You should seek your own legal advice on the matters raised in this guidance note.
GN-Q Applying for a ReviewRevised Dec 2016