Event planning guide

Licensable Activities

The Licensing Act 2003 came into force during 2005 and changed the laws relating to public entertainment, indoor sporting events, late night refreshments and the sale of alcohol.

So if you are organising an event where you think you might want to include any of the activities detailed below in your programme then it is worth contacting the licensing section at the Council to discuss your proposals. (Contact details below)

• Sales of alcohol
• The sale of hot food and drink between 11 pm and 5 am
• Provision of regulated entertainment including plays, films, performance of dance, recorded music and some live music. 

Premise Licences

May be required to provide licensable activities in a specific place. Where alcohol is also to be sold, a named premise supervisor must also be designated. More information is available at on our premise licence page.

Temporary Event Notice (TEN)

Can be used for an ad-hoc event, the event must be notified to the Licensing Authority, the Police and Environmental Health with a minimum of 10 working days before the intended event and preferably at least 28 days beforehand. Late notices can be given no later than 5 working days but no earlier than 9 working days before the event. A late Temporary Event Notice, which should only be used in exceptional circumstances, must be given no earlier than 9 and no later than 5 working days before the event.

You must be 18 years or older to apply for a TEN and you can apply for a maximum of five standard and two late notices per year. If you're a personal licence holder, you can apply for a maximum of 50 standard and ten late notices per year.

Your event must involve no more than 499 people at any one time and last no more than 168 hours, with a minimum of 24 hours between events.

The licensable activity must be carried out exactly as detailed in the TEN.

The TEN should contain:

• details of the licensable activities
• the event periods
• the times when the activities will take place
• the maximum number of people proposed to be allowed on the premises
• any other required matters

The TEN must be given in writing. A fee is payable with the notice, which is currently £21.

Unless you submit an electronic application, you must also give a copy of the notice to:

• Cleveland Police                                          

Licensing Unit

Middlesbrough Police Station

Bridge Street West

Middlesbrough

TS2 1AB

stockton.licensing@cleveland.pnn.police.uk                  

• FAO Stephanie Landles

Environmental Health Department

Stockton on Tees Borough Council

PO Box 232, 16 Church Road

Stockton on Tees

TS18 1XD

stephanie.landles@stockton.gov.uk

Within the same time limits. If any of those authorities believe that the event would undermine licensing objectives, they can serve an objection notice on the council and the applicant. This notice must be served within 3 working days of receipt of the TEN.

Recent deregulation means that some of these activities in front of smaller audiences or on certain types of premises are no longer licensable.  Guidance, application forms and information on licensing requirements are available from the Council web site TEN page.

General Advice

Apply early for any type of licence required you could be prosecuted if you do not have an appropriate licence for your event. If you intend to supply alcohol at your event, you will need to obtain a licence.

Event organisers need to recognise the importance of managing sale and consumption of alcohol, and the effect it may have upon the control of your event, particularly in relation to young people. It is an offence to sell alcohol to anyone under 18.

Any person employed at the event to control admissions, keep order, remove people causing disorder, or searching premises or people must be licensed by Security Industry Authority (SIA). Visit the gov.uk website for more information.

Fundraising

Small lottery registration allows small lotteries to be run to raise money for charitable, sporting and other purposes other than private gain by societies. A £40 fee is payable on first registration and an annual fee of £20 after that.

The term "societies" includes clubs, institutions, organisations or branches.

To be legally classed as a small society lottery, it must fulfil the main criteria:

• A non-commercial society
• In neither the current calendar year, nor any past three years, the proceeds of any one lottery has been capable of exceeding £20,000, and the aggregate proceeds of all lotteries promoted by you hasn't exceeded £250,000
• The lottery is promoted for the purposes of the society
• At least 20% of the lottery proceeds are applied to the society purposes
• No prize is greater than £25,000
• Tickets comply with certain conditions, including that they're all the same price

Further information and applications can be found on our small society lottery registration page.

Street Collection permit allow persons wishing to collect money or sell articles for the benefit of charitable or other purposes from a street will require a permit. The term street includes any footpath, highway or public place.

A permit is not required if the collection is to take place on private land.

Street collections are free and anyone over the age of 16 can apply.

Applications must be submitted at least 28 working days in advance of the proposed collection and should be accompanied with the following documents:

• List of Trustees
• Previous Years Accounts
• Literature on the organisation(s) which will benefit from the collection
• Particulars of any contracts with any charity which is to benefit from this collection

Subject to a satisfactory application and the availability of appropriate dates a permit will be issued within 28 working days. Further information and application forms can be found on our Street Collection permit page.

Animal Activity Licenses

Organisers of events which include animals i.e. donkey rides, animal shows, and birds of prey should ensure the appropriate keeping or training animals for exhibition licence is held with the authority the animal resides in.

More information can be found our animal activities licence page.