A Temporary Event Notice, or TEN, is required before carrying out licensable activity on unlicensed premises, or when the activity is outside the scope of an existing licence
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The Government introduced Temporary Event Notices (TEN) to make provision for small scale one off events, or situations where Premises Licences do not meet the needs of a particular function on a particular night; for example somebody may want a special birthday party at a later time than is included on the Premises Licence, or it may be held in a marquee in a garden of a pub which is not covered under the Premises Licence. The maximum number of people who can enjoy the licensable activities is 499 including staff and any performers.
The events do not have to be special. If a notice is properly issued, and no counter notice is issued, a licensable activity becomes a permitted temporary activity under the TEN.
No further permission or authorisation is necessary. The Licensing Authority simply has to acknowledge the notice by signing it and sending it back to the applicant, thereby giving authority for the event to go ahead.
TENs are not as simple as they appear. Get it wrong and your special event could well have to be cancelled. We have issued thousands of TENs for clients over the years.
The event period itself can last for a maximum 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.
It is possible to apply for "late" Temporary Event Notices by giving between five and nine working days notice, although there is a limit of 10 Late Temporary Event Notices each calendar year for an individual holding a Personal Licence (out of their total of 50), and two (out of their total of 5) for those who do not. The main other differences with Standard TENs are that if an authority vetoes the application there is no right to a hearing or Appeal (the late TEN is simply refused), and it is not possible to add conditions to a late TEN.
You can apply for a Temporary Event Notice here, with Poppleston Allen. You will need to answer some basic questions and send it to us. One of our legal team will check the answers, complete the application form and send it with the appropriate fee and documentation to the Local Authority.
Find out more about our Applications On-line service
Please see our page on Music Festivals for some top tips on organising outdoor events or festivals with bars. Whilst music festivals tend to cater for more than 500 people and therefore have to have a premises licence, there are some useful tips and advice for running smaller events too.