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Fire arms licence

How to apply

You can get a firearm or shotgun certificate application form from the firearms licensing unit of your local police force.

You must:

complete an application form
provide 4 passport photographs
have 2 referees for a firearm certificate and 1 referee for shotgun certificate
pay the fee for the certificate you are applying for

You can get the fees from your local police force.The fee amounts can be found from the firearms licensing unit of the police force where you live.

You must also prove to the chief officer of police that you’re allowed to have a firearms certificate and pose no danger to public safety or to the peace.

A shotgun certificate won’t be given or renewed if the chief officer of police has a reason that you shouldn’t be allowed to have a shotgun under the Firearms Act. Or if they don’t think you have a good reason to have, buy or acquire a shotgun.

A certificate usually lasts 5 years from the date it was issued or renewed.

Conditions

Your certificate will include a photograph of you and information about the firearm(s) or shotgun(s) you have in your possession.

You must:

follow any condition attached to the certificate (the chief officer of police can vary these conditions at any time by giving notice in writing)
be able to show your firearm or shotgun certificate if asked by the police

You must have a European Firearms Pass if you want to travel within Europe with your guns. You can apply for this at the same time as your firearms certificate.

European firearms passes are normally valid for 5 years or the length of your firearm certificate - whichever is shorter.

You can renew a European firearms pass by applying to the chief officer of police in your local police force.

Certain firearms are completely prohibited. You won’t be able to get a licence for them and it is an offence to possess, buy or acquire them without the authority of the Home Secretary.

Pyrotechnics licenses

In the uk you will need to apply for a COER 3 - Certificate to Acquire and Keep Explosives, this can be picked up from your local police station.

The licence is for types of black powder normaly classed as UN 0027 & UN 0028, which are used in firearms, be it homemade or comercial. you must have this licence in order to legally make, buy and store it.

You also need a second licence if you wish to transport it.

as for mixed chemical explosives you might be able to apply for them on the same licence.

fireworks are under UN0333, UN0334, UN0335, UN0336, UN0337

Music licenses

By purchasing the correct music licences, businesses and organisers of social activities can play recorded music to their benefit while confident that they are legally compliant. A PPL licence ensures that performers and record companies are being fairly paid for the use of their music.

Alcohol licenses

Businesses, organisations and individuals who want to sell or supply alcohol in England and Wales must have a licence or other authorisation from a licensing authority - usually a local council. The law and policy governing this area is overseen by the Home Office.

Applying for a licence

The types of businesses and organisations that need alcohol licences might include:

pubs and bars
cinemas
theatres
nightclubs
late-opening cafes
takeaways
village and community halls
supermarkets

The types of licences required are defined as follows:

any business or other organisation that sells or supplies alcohol on a permanent basis needs to apply for a premises licence
anyone who plans to sell or supply alcohol or authorise the sale or supply of alcohol must apply for a personal licence
qualifying members’ clubs (such as the Royal British Legion, working men’s clubs and rugby clubs) need to apply for a club premises certificate if they plan to sell or supply alcohol

Anyone who plans to sell or supply alcohol on a temporary basis must submit a temporary event notice.

How to apply for an alcohol licence

To apply for a licence, you will need to complete an application form and send it to your local council, along with the fee. You may also need to send copies of your form (depending on the type of application you are making) to the police and other ‘responsible authorities’. You can apply online if your council accepts electronic applications. Otherwise, you can apply by post:

Forms are also available for:

You should also contact your local council for advice on the application process.

Responsible authorities

police
local fire and rescue
primary care trust (PCT) or local health board (LHB)
the relevant licensing authority
local enforcement agency for the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
environmental health authority
planning authority
body responsible for the protection of children from harm
local trading standards
any other licensing authority in whose area part of the premises is situated

Fees under the Licensing Act 2003

Licence fees are prescribed in regulations (the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005). The fees paid in respect of applications for new premises licences and club premises certificates; applications for full variations to premises licences and club premises certificates; and annual fees in respect of premises licences and club premises certificates vary dependent on the national non-domestic rateable value (NNDR) “band” of the premises. You can check your rateable value at the Valuation Office Agency website.

Premises that are exempt from non-domestic rating are allocated to Band A. Premises that do not have a NNDR because they under construction are allocated to Band C.

An “additional fee” may be payable in respect of large scale events, where 5,000 or more people are due to attend at a venue that is not purpose-built.

Determining a licence application

Where an application is properly made and no responsible authority or other person makes representations, the licensing authority must grant the application, subject only to conditions which are consistent with the operating schedule and relevant mandatory conditions in the act. This should be undertaken as a simple administrative process by the licensing authority’s officials.

If representations are made by a responsible authority or other person, it is for the licensing authority to decide whether those representations are relevant to the licensing objectives and not frivolous or vexatious. If the licensing authority decides that any representations are relevant, then it must hold a hearing to consider them.

At a hearing, the licensing authority may:

grant the application subject to modifying conditions that are consistent with the operating schedule in a way it considers appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives
reject one or more requested licensable activities
reject the application
refuse to specify a person as a designated premises supervisor

All decisions of the licensing authority, and any conditions imposed, must be appropriate for the promotion of the licensing objectives. If you disagree with the council’s decision, you have a right of appeal to the magistrate’s court.

Personal licence

You are not required to have a personal licence to be employed in a pub or other business that sells alcohol. Premises licensed to sell alcohol must have a designated premises supervisor, who holds a personal licence. The one exception is a community premises that has successfully applied to waive the DPS requirement under section 41D of the act. Anyone who does not hold a personal licence must be authorised to sell alcohol by a personal licence holder. There is no such requirement for the supply of alcohol in a members’ club.

Personal licences allow you to sell alcohol on behalf of any business that has a premises licence or a club premises certificate. The relationship is similar to the way that a driving licence permits the driving of any car.

About the licence

The personal licence is designed to ensure that anybody running or managing a business that sells or supplies alcohol will do so in a professional fashion. Once you receive your personal licence, you can act as the designated premises supervisor for any business that sells or supplies alcohol.

Who can apply

In order to apply, you must be aged 18 years or over, and (in almost all cases) hold a licensing qualification - for example, a BII Level II examination certificate or a similar accredited qualification such as the EDI NCPLH level 2 qualification.

If you are applying for a personal licence, you must obtain an accredited qualification first. The aim of the qualification is to ensure that licence holders are aware of licensing law and the wider social responsibilities involved in the sale of alcohol. Personal licence qualification providers are accredited by the Home Secretary.

Your local council will want to know of any relevant criminal convictions, and these may impact on whether or not you’re found to be suitable as a licensee. You will also need to provide a basic criminal conviction disclosure form.

Changing a licence or club certificate

If you wish to change any aspect of your licence or club certificate once it has been granted, you will need to apply to your local council for either a full or a minor variation.

Full variations

The full variation process is very similar to the application process for a new premises licence and the fee is the same. You should use this process if you want to make a substantial change to your licence, for example, increasing the hours when you sell alcohol.

Minor variations

If you want to make a small, low-risk change to your premises licence, you may be able to use the minor variation process. This is cheaper and quicker than the full variation application.

Small changes could include:

removing a licensable activity
reducing the hours you sell alcohol
making small changes to the layout of your premises

If you apply for a minor variation and your application is rejected, you will not be able to appeal. However, you can reapply using the full variation process.

Contact your local council for advice on which process is more suitable for the change you want to make.

Community involvement in licensing

Any person or business may make representations on premises licence applications or variations, premises licence reviews, representations in relation to club premises certificates and reviews of club premises certificates.

Making representations

Any person can make representations or comments to the council about applications for new licences, variations or reviews.

Comments may be positive or negative, but will only be considered relevant by the council if they relate clearly to the licensing objectives. Councils will also reject comments considered to be frivolous (not serious or time-wasting) or if they relate to personal disputes between businesses.

Requesting a review of a licence

You can also call for an existing licence to be reviewed by the council if you have concerns relating to the licensing objectives.

Hearings

If the council considers your reasons for making representations or calling for a review are relevant, it will arrange a hearing to consider the evidence. You - or someone representing you - will be invited to the hearing to explain your concerns.

Representations and requests for the review of a licence must be made in writing. Forms can be obtained from your local council.

If you disagree with the council’s decision following a hearing, you have the right to appeal to the magistrates’ court. Your council will be able to provide further details.

Licensable activities

All businesses and organisations that undertake licensable activities on a permanent basis must have a premises licence from their local authority.

Sale or supply of alcohol

The sale by retail of alcohol and the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club are both licensable activities.

Regulated entertainment

Regulated entertainment is broadly defined as any entertainment that takes place in the presence of an audience (whether members of the public or a club), or otherwise for profit, and the premises have the purpose of providing the entertaining concerned. It may include:

a performance of a play
an exhibition of a film
an indoor sporting event
a boxing or wrestling entertainment
a performance of live music
playing of recorded music
a performance of dance

Late night refreshment

Late night refreshment is the sale of hot food or drink to the public to consume off or on the premises) between 11pm and 5am

Club premises certificates

Members’ clubs can operate under club premises certificates instead of premises licences.

This means, for example, that they are not required to have a designated premises supervisor, and sales of alcohol do not need to be authorised by a personal licence holder.

Qualifying clubs

To be classified as a club for the purpose of this certificate, a group must meet several conditions.

These include:

legitimacy - each applicant must be a real club with at least 25 members
a membership process that takes at least two days between application and acceptance
alcohol must not be supplied on the premises other than by the club
alcohol must be purchased by a committee made up of members all of whom are at least 18 years old
alcohol for the club must be purchased legally

Other legal restrictions for clubs operating under a club premises certificate are in the Licensing Act 2003.

Designated premises supervisors

A designated premises supervisor (DPS) is the person who has day-to-day responsibility for the running of the business.

All businesses and organisations selling or supplying alcohol, except members clubs and certain community premises must have a designated premises supervisor.

Whoever holds this role must be named in the operating schedule, which you will need to complete as part of the application process, when you apply for a premises licence.

What the DPS does

The person chosen to be designated premises supervisor (DPS) will act as primary contact for local government and the police. They must understand the social issues and potential problems associated with the sale of alcohol, and also have a good understanding of the business itself.

While they need not be on site at all times, they are expected to be involved enough with the business to be able to act as its representative, and they must be contactable at all times.

If the police or local government have any questions or concerns about the business, they will expect to be able to reach the designated supervisor.

Each business may have only one supervisor selected for this role, but the same person may act as the designated supervisor at more than one business.

Taking responsibility

The Licensing Act requires the supervisor - and all personal licence holders - to take responsibility for the sale and supply of alcohol.

This is because of the impact alcohol has on the wider community, on crime and disorder, and antisocial behaviour.

Because of these issues, selling alcohol carries greater responsibility than licensing regulated entertainment and late night sales of food and non-alcoholic drinks.

Becoming a DPS

A designated premises supervisor must have a personal licence and must be nominated by the premises license holder for the role of designated supervisor.

Community premises

If you run or are involved in a community, church or village hall that wishes to sell alcohol or already sells it, you can apply for the sale of alcohol to be made the responsibility of a management committee instead of a premises supervisor. Or you can also apply to replace the designated premises supervisor, if you already have one, with the management committee

Temporary events

If you’re organising a temporary event and want to serve or sell alcohol, provide late night refreshment, or put on regulated entertainment, you’ll need to complete a temporary event notice (TEN).

A TEN is a form that you provide to the local council, the police and environmental health, letting them know about the planned event.

There are 2 types of TENs:

a standard TEN, which is given no later than 10 working days before the event to which it relates
a late TEN, which is given not before 9 and not later than 5 working days before the event.

What qualifies for a TEN?

For the purpose of a TEN, a temporary event is a relatively small-scale event attracting fewer than 500 people.

The event must last no more than 168 hours and can be held either outdoors or indoors.

Any premises can only be used for 12 temporary events per year, up to a total maximum of 21 days.

You must be over 18 in order to hold a temporary event.

If you have a personal licence, you can give 50 TENs (made up of standard and late TENs) a year; if you don’t have a personal licence you can only give 5 (made up of standard and late TENs).

If you have a personal licence, you can give 10 late TENs a year; if you don’t have a personal licence you can only give 2 late TENs.

There must be at least 24 hours between temporary events organised by the same person or an associate in relation to the same premises.

Once the police or environmental health receive your TEN, they have 3 working days to make any objections to it on the grounds of any of the four licensing objectives: prevention of crime and disorder, prevention of public nuisance, public safety, protection of children from harm.

If they object, the council will organise a hearing to consider the evidence and may decide that your event cannot proceed. If there is an objection to a late TEN the event will not be allowed to proceed. Otherwise the event can go ahead as planned.

Mandatory licensing conditions

Mandatory licensing conditions introduced by the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010

The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010 introduced conditions that apply to all relevant premises in England and Wales. They apply to all licensed premises and those with a club premises certificate in England and Wales. In particular, if your premises sells or supplies alcohol, you must ensure that an age verification policy applies at the premises. The other conditions apply in respect of premises licensed for the sale or supply of alcohol on the premises, and are:

a ban on irresponsible promotions
a ban on dispensing alcohol directly into customers’ mouths
mandatory provision of free tap water
the mandatory provision of smaller measures (see below for further details)

Age verification policy

If your premises (your pub, bar or club, for example) sells or supplies alcohol, you must hold an age verification policy.

As a minimum, the premises must have a policy that requires people who appear to be under the age of 18 to be asked, before being served alcohol, to produce identification showing their:

photograph
date of birth
a holographic mark

Examples of acceptable ID include:

photo card driving licences
passports or proof of age cards bearing the PASS hologram
other forms of ID which meet the criteria laid out above are also acceptable

Staff who work in these venues must be made aware of the existence and content of the age verification policy.

Smaller measures

If you’re responsible for serving alcohol, you now must make sure that the following drinks (if sold in your premises), are available in the following measures:

beer or cider - half pint
gin, rum, vodka or whisky - 25ml or 35ml
still wine in a glass - 125ml

You must also make sure your customers are aware of the availability of these measures.

eventsmanagement

Thursday, 17 October 2013

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