Temporary Events

Licence Summary

A Temporary Event Notice is a notification given by an individual of their intention to engage in one or more licensable activities, such as sale of alcohol or the provision of entertainment, subject to fulfilling certain conditions.

Your event must not involve more than 499 people at any one time and it must not last for more than 168 hours. Consecutive Notices cannot be issued to same person, or their associates, for the use of the same premises. There must be a minimum of 24 hours between such Notices.

Should you wish to hold such an event, and it is not authorised by a Premises Licence or a Club Premises Certificate, you must submit a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) to your Local Authority no later than ten working days beforehand.

There are two types of TENs, Standard or Late, and different criteria apply to each. See below for details.

If the premises where the event is to be held is in an area bordering two or more Local Authorities areas, then notifications must be given to each Local Authority, each Council Pollution Control Team and each Chief of Police.

Eligibility Criteria

You must be at least 18 years old.

If you do not hold a Personal Licence issued under the Act then you are restricted to a maximum of no more than five TENs per calendar year, two of which may be Late TENs.  

Personal Licence Holders are entitled to give a maximum of 50 TENs per calendar year, 10 of which may be Late TENs.

In both cases, you will have to declare in your notification the number of TENs previously submitted. 

Restrictions on the number of TENs also apply to premises. There may be no more than 12 TENs per premises or an aggregated total of 21 days per calendar year.

Standard TEN

Two copies of the Notice, accompanied by the application fee, must be delivered to the Licensing Authority together with a third copy for the Council's Pollution Control Team, at least 10 working days prior to the event. All three copies should be sent together to the address below. A further copy must also be delivered to the Chief Officer of Police at least 10 working days prior to the event, unless the notification was made online through the gov.uk website.

Late TEN

Two copies of the Notice, accompanied by the application fee, must be delivered to the Licensing Authority together with a third copy for the Council's Pollution Control Team, no earlier than nine working days and no later than five working days prior to the event. All three copies should be sent together to the address below. A further copy must also be delivered to the Chief Officer of Police at least five working days prior to the event, unless the notification was made online through the gov.uk website.

The following guidance applies to both types of Notice:

The law requires that late or incomplete Notices must be rejected.

The Notice must be in a specific format and should contain:

• Details of the licensable activities
• The event period
• The times the activities will take place
• The maximum number of people to be allowed on the premises
• Any other required matters

Regulation Summary

A Summary of TENs Regulation (external link) been produced by The National Archives.

Application Evaluation Process

On receipt of your Notification, the Licensing Authority will validate and return the Notice to you. This validated Notice must be displayed at the premises to which it relates for the duration of the event.

If the Chief Officer of Police or the Council's Pollution Control Team believe that the event would undermine the Licensing Objectives then they may serve an Objection Notice on the Licensing Authority and the premises user. This Notice must be served within three working days of their  receipt of the TEN, this may not necessarily be the day that the Licensing Authority received your application.

Where an Objection Notice is served then we will hold a Hearing. If it is considered appropriate,  for the promotion of the Licensing Objectives, then the Licensing Authority may issue a Counter Notice, which invalidates the TEN.

If the Licensing Authority consider that it is not appropriate to issue a Counter Notice, it may serve a Notice of Conditions. It can only do so where the premises concerned is the holder of a Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate and the Licensing Authority consider that it is appropriate that the relevant conditions on the Licence/Certificate should be attached to the TEN. 

A decision must be made at least 24 hours before the beginning of the event.

The Chief Officer of Police or the Council's Pollution Control Team may, after serving an Objection Notice as above, modify the TEN with the consent of the premises user. In such a case the Objection Notice will then be deemed to have been withdrawn.

In the case of Late TEN where an Objection Notice is received from the Chief Officer of Police or the Council's Pollution Control Team then the Licensing Authority will issue a Counter Notice immediately without holding a Hearing. 

Counter Notices may also be served by the Licensing Authority in a number of other circumstances, such as, the number of permitted events for the premises or personal limits have been exceeded.  

Tacit Consent

Tacit Consent does apply to TENs. 

You will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the Local Authority by the end of the target completion period. For Wealden District Council the target completion period for a TEN is 10 working days from receipt of the application.

How to Apply

Two copies of the TEN must be given in writing, either online or by post to the Local Authority at least ten working days before the event.  It is important to note that in calculating the ten working days, no account can be taken of the day on which the notification was received or the first day of the event. Similarly Bank Holidays and weekends are not regarded as working days.

In respect of Late TENs those time limits are reduced to no earlier than nine working days and no later than five working days before the event. Again it is important to note that in calculating these days, no account can be taken of the day on which the notification was received or the first day of the event. Bank Holidays and weekends are not regarded as working days.

A fee of £21 is payable with the Notice.

Unless you submit an online application you must also give a copy of the Notice to the Council's Pollution Control Team and to the Police no later than ten working days before the event, or in the case of a Late TEN no earlier than nine working days and no later than five working days. Contact details for the local Police in Wealden can be found on our Temporary Event Notice Advice Sheet (pdf). The copy for the Council's Pollution Control Team should be included with copy for the Licensing Authority.

Apply Online

Because TENs are covered by the European Services Directive you can apply online through the gov.uk website:

• Apply online for a Temporary Event Notice (external link)

Online applications are quick and easy and you no longer need to be registered on the Government Gateway to make online applications. The Chief Officer of Police and the Council's Pollution Control Team will be consulted for you electronically if you apply online.

Apply by Post

You can also apply by post by downloading our application form and returning three copies to the address below and one to the Chief Officer of Police:

• Download our Temporary Event Notice Application Form (pdf).

Licence Holder Redress

In general if the Licensing Authority have issued a Counter Notice following a Hearing in the circumstances outlined above, then you may appeal against the decision. Please note that this does not apply where personal/premises limits have been exceeded or where it has been issued following an application for a Late TEN.

All appeals must be made to the local Magistrates' court within 21 days of notice of the Licensing Authority's decision. However no appeal may be brought later than five working days before the day on which the event begins.

Please feel free to contact us for advice in the first instance. Alternatively you may wish to consider seeking independent legal advice.

Consumer Complaint

We would always advise that in the event of a complaint the first contact is made with the trader by you - preferably in the form a letter (with proof of delivery). If that has not worked and you are located in the UK, Consumer Direct (external link) will give you advice. From outside the UK contact the UK European Consumer Centre (external link).

Please direct all enquires concerning licensing matters to the Licensing Team who are part of the Council's Public Health and Community Services department.

If your complaint concerns non licensing matters you may still use the contact details below and your complaint will be passed to an Officer within a relevant team, for example, noise pollution, food hygiene or health and safety.

Other Redress

If the Licensing Authority decides not to issue a Counter Notice in relation to an Objection Notice the Chief Officer of Police or the Council's Pollution Control Team can appeal the decision.

Appeals must be made to the local Magistrates' court within 21 days. An appeal may not be brought later than five working days from the day of the planned event.

Trade Associations

You may find the following organisations useful:

• National Outdoor Events Association (external link)
• Society of Event Organisers (external link)
• Event Suppliers and Services Association (external link)
• TSNN Online Directory (external link)