Published: 22 August 2017
Q: I have had a visit from a Police Licensing Officer who is saying I should not be trading in certain parts of my premises as they are not covered by CCTV – is this correct?
A: There is nothing in the Licensing Act 2003 or the Mandatory Conditions meaning that premises are required to have CCTV as standard. However, many authorities will now ask for CCTV conditions to be included as part of the licensing process and so you should check the conditions which appear under Annex 2 or 3 of your premises licence.
These are individual to each premises licence and so may appear on some, but not others, and the wording of conditions could be different, meaning that each individual premises have different obligations to fulfil in respect of CCTV, or even have none at all if the conditions do not appear.
I suspect from the question that if you review your premises licence there will be a condition which will state something along the lines of your CCTV should cover all areas open to the public (except toilets), meaning that your CCTV should cover the whole of your trading area. It is arguable whether the Police could stop you trading on these grounds, but if this is the case you are not complying with that condition and so are in breach of your licence. If the position is not rectified you could face enforcement action and the Police could even go as far as to review your Premises Licence.
If you have the condition(s) and are not complying I would suggest that you retain dialogue with the Police and rectify the position as soon as possible by upgrading your CCTV system. This will both satisfy the Police, mean you are complying with your licence, and is beneficial for your operation.
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