TEMPORARY EVENTS NOTICES FOR THE HALL
(As at September 2006)

Public Entertainment

We have a Premises Licence for the hall which covers public entertainment, so hirers do not need a temporary events licence if all that they are doing is providing entertainment. There is no limit on the number of public entertainment events that can be held in the hall under our licence.

Our Premises Licence is limited to events between midday and midnight on Monday to Saturday, and to a maximum of 200 people. So anyone wanting to run a public entertainment on Sunday or after midnight would need to apply for a temporary events notice. The 200 people limit applies in all cases and cannot be increased.

Selling alcohol in the Hall

Our Premises Licence does not cover the sale of alcohol, so a hirer wanting to do this at an event in the Hall would have to apply for a Temporary Events Notice.
Uttlesford District Council have told us that

Hirers do not need a Notice if people bring their own alcohol to the event.
Hirers do need a Notice if the entry fee entitles the person to a "free" drink of alcohol.
Hirers do need a Notice if selling alcohol even at an entirely private function.

http://www.uttlesford.gov.uk/main.cfm

Under “services” select licences then select temporary event licences. email or phone them for a form

Limit on number of Notices

There is a limit on the number of Temporary Events Notices that can be given for the Hall. Whoever applies for them, and whatever they are for, the limit is 12 in any calendar year.

Getting a Temporary Events Notice

Hirers need to get form from Uttlesford District Council Licensing Department, 01799 510578. A notice costs £21(as at Sept 2006) and the completed form needs to be returned to the Council and the Police at least 10 days before the event.

As with all attempts to be specific, the first time we tried to use the above we found ourselves on the edges and so contacted Uttlesford using the above phone number, for clarification. Our Craft Fair committee wanted to mark its 20th show by giving the first 50 customers through the door a free glass of wine. My contact at Uttlesford then advised that because we were not in the business of selling alcohol we would not need a temporary event notice or an alcohol license for the activity as described. My next question then related to our Tombolas in that they were clearly a form of gambling. The response to this was surprising as under the latest regulations a tombola or raffle, where the tickets are sold at the event and the prizes won at the same event, were acceptable but if tickets were pre-sold it would become a lottery and be relevant to the new Act.