If you want to carry out a licensable activity on unlicensed premises, you will need to give a Temporary Event Notice (TEN).

Licensable activity includes:

  • selling alcohol
  • providing regulated entertainment (live or recorded music, films, plays, and similar)
  • serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am - this is known as late night refreshment

A TEN allows you to provide licensable activities at premises in Sutton on a one-off or infrequent basis.

They can be used at unlicensed premises, such as a community, school, or charity fundraising event, for a special event. They can also be used at licensed premises to extend the normal licence for a special occasion.

You will need to provide as much information as you can about the event you are planning. This includes the size, date, duration, and location.

How to apply

You can apply online for a Temporary Event Notice on GOV.UK.

You can also download the application form and post it to us at:

Licensing Team
London Borough of Sutton
Civic Offices
St Nicholas Way
Sutton
SM1 1EA 

If you make a paper application, you must also send copies of your application to the police and environmental health, at the addresses given within the responsible authority list. If you apply online using the above link, we will do this for you.

The fee for each temporary event notice is £21 and payment must be made at the time of application.

Applicants must be over 18 years of age.

Before you apply

We will only intervene to stop events if we have reason to believe that the planned event may be detrimental to one or more of the licensing objectives. For example, if previous events at the premises resulted in:

  • crime
  • disorder
  • a risk to public safety
  • public nuisance
  • harm to children
  • if there is specific intelligence or concerns about the plans for the current event

To prevent the temporary event notice system from being abused, there are a number of strict criteria on how they can be used. All of the following requirements are set within the Licensing Act 2003, and if a proposed event does not satisfy all of them, it cannot be authorised.

Advance notice

If you submit your application at least 10 full working days before the start of your event, it will be considered as a standard temporary event notice.

This period excludes:

  • the day on which you made your application
  • the day(s) of your proposed event
  • any Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays or other public holidays

Late temporary event notices

Late temporary event notices can be submitted between 5 and 9 full working days before the start of your event. This does not include the day your notice is submitted or the day of your event.

Late temporary event notices are subject to immediate veto if any objections are made against them. There is no right of appeal against this decision. 

Therefore, we strongly encourage event organisers to give standard TENs wherever possible.

The maximum number of late TENs which can be given in each calendar year is:

  • 10 late TENs per year if you hold a valid personal licence
  • 2 late TENs per year in all other circumstances

We cannot accept any Temporary Event Notice which is given to us less than 5 full working days before the start of the event.

Size of event

Temporary Event Notices are only intended to be used for small, infrequent events.

Small events are no more than 499 persons present at any time. This figure includes all customers, organisers, staff, contractors, and performers who will be present on the event site.

If you are planning an event which may have more than 499 people on site at any time you will need to apply for a premises licence instead.

Duration of event

A temporary event notice can last for a maximum of 168 consecutive hours (equivalent to 7 days) from start to finish. If you are arranging a single event with a longer duration, you will instead need to apply for a premises licence.

A series of events taking place at a single premises can be authorised either:

  • under a single TEN (if they take place on consecutive days)
  • under multiple TENs (if spread over a longer period)

Separation of events

If you are organising multiple events at a single premises, you will need to ensure that there is a gap of at least 24 hours between the end of one temporary event notice and the start of another.

If you are planning events on consecutive days, you can put these on to a single TEN, subject to the other criteria being met.

Frequency of events at premises

Each premises can have up to 15 temporary event notices in a calendar year. When added together allow events on no more than 21 calendar days in that year.

Events starting before midnight and ending after midnight will count as two days.

Quota of events by applicant

Across the whole of England and Wales, in each calendar year, an individual applicant is permitted to give:

  • up to 50 temporary event notices, if they hold a valid personal licence

  • up to 5 temporary event notices, in all other circumstances

The limit also applies jointly across any associated persons. A married couple, family members, work colleagues, or business partners will only be able to give 50 or five TENs between them.

Consultation

Your application will be considered by partner agencies including the police and environmental health officers. If they have any concerns related to the proposed event, they may be in touch with you. They will try to help you modify your proposal so your event can take place.

Objections

If an objection is made against your temporary event notice, we will let you know as soon as possible.

What happens next will depend on how far in advance you applied.

If you gave a standard TEN

We will arrange for your temporary event notice to be considered by our Licensing Sub-Committee (a panel of three councillors) at a public hearing. You will be invited to attend this.

After hearing from all parties, the Sub-Committee will make a decision either to allow your event to take place, or to issue a counter-notice which will veto the event.

If the event is allowed to take place and the application relates to licensed premises, the Sub-Committee may also decide to bring forward conditions from the premises licence and apply these to the temporary event notice.

If you gave a late TEN

We will automatically issue a counter-notice, which vetoes the event. Given the limited timescales, there is no right to a hearing in these cases.

Acknowledgement

When we receive a valid temporary event notice, we will send you an acknowledgement letter. By law, we have to send this before the end of the period for objections to be made.

Unless you hear otherwise from us, once you have received the acknowledgement letter you may proceed with your event.

During the event, you must have a copy of the TEN on display and available for inspection by either police officers or authorised council officers. They have a right of entry to the event site.

Tacit consent

Tacit consent means if you have not heard from us within 5 working days of submitting your application, you may proceed with your event. Tacit consent will apply to all valid and correctly served temporary event notices, to which no objections are made.

Refusal of applications

There are a number of possible reasons why we might refuse a temporary event notice.

If you have not given enough notice of your event

TENs must be submitted at least five or 10 working days before the proposed event. This does not include the day on which you applied nor the first day of the event. This limit is set by law, and we cannot depart from it.

If your event does not satisfy the criteria

For example, if you have already used your full quota of TENs for the year, or if your proposed event would exceed the maximum period allowed.

We will issue a counter-notice, which vetoes the event. There is no right of appeal against this decision.

If you gave a late TEN and the police or environmental health objected to it

We must automatically issue a counter-notice to veto the event. There is no right of appeal against this decision.

If you gave a standard TEN and the police or environmental health objected to it

We will hold a hearing to consider all parties' arguments. The hearing will decide whether to permit the event to take place, or to uphold the objections and issue a counter-notice to veto the event.

Following a hearing, either the applicant or the objecting body may appeal within 21 days of our decision to a magistrates' court. The event has to be at least 5 working days away.

We do not issue refunds for applications that are out of time or invalid for any of the other reasons set out in the above list.