Temporary Events Notices

The Licensing Act 2003 introduced Temporary Event Notices (TENs) as a simple method of dealing with the temporary carrying on of licensed activities at premises which are not authorised by a premises licence or a club premises certificate.

TENs may be used to cover the temporary carrying on of

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

The TENs system provides a 'light touch' approach. The most important part of the system is that events do not have to be authorised as such by the licensing authority. Instead the premises user notifies the event to the licensing authority and the police, subject to fulfilling certain conditions.

In general, only the police may intervene to prevent a temporary event taking place or to agree a temporary change to arrangements.

This 'light touch' approach is possible because of the limitations on the use of the system imposed under the Act. The limitations apply to

• The number of times a person (the premises user) may give a temporary event notice (50 times per year for a personal licence holder and 5 times a year for other persons)
• The number of times a temporary event notice may be given for any particular premises (no more than 12 in any one calendar year)
• The length of time a temporary event may last (96 hours)
• The maximum total duration of the period covered by temporary event notices at any individual premises (15 days)
• The scale of the event in terms of the maximum number of people attending at any one time (less than 500)

Our guidance notes provide further information.

Download the guidance to temporary event notices (doc 78 kb)

Download the temporary event notice notification form  (pdf 648 kb)

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Timetable for notifications

Please be aware that the Act requires that a minimum of ten working days notice must be given to the licensing authority and to the police.

The licensing authority has no authority to waive or reduce this requirement. Any notification received with less than ten working days notice will be rejected with no right of appeal.

To comply with this requirement, if your event is for a Saturday or Sunday night your notification must be received three Fridays earlier. However, we would encourage premises users to give as much notice as possible (and at least 28 days notice) to give time to deal with any concerns that the police may have about your event.

Contact us

The health safety and licensing unit
licensing@southwark.gov.uk
The Chaplin Centre
Thurlow Street
London  SE17 2DG
Tel: 020 7525 5748
Fax: 020 7525 5705 

Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.