Compliance

We would like to remind licensed venues of the importance of the Ask for Angela scheme

Keeping safe

Sometimes you can find yourself in a situation that isn't safe or that makes you feel uncomfortable. In premises that operate Ask for Angela, you can discreetly ask for help from a member of staff if this happens.  We all do our best to stay safe when we're out but sometimes we may need a little extra help.  Ask for Angela training means staff follow the right procedure to support and assist you through uncomfortable situations with no fuss, so you don't need to worry about it causing a scene.  The assistance you receive might be reuniting you with a friend, seeing you to a taxi, or if it's a serious safety issue, alerting venue security and/or the police.  Ask for Angela aims to ensure no-one need feel unsafe.

More information can be found online:

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As part of our role, we inspect licensed premises to check for compliance with the law and licence conditions, offer advice on best practice and to ensure the promotion of the four licensing objectives:

• Prevention of crime and disorder
• Public safety
• Prevention of public nuisance
• Protection of children from harm

We have a

 which we would encourage all licensed premises to use, alongside your licence and conditions, to ensure you remain compliant.

Duty to Produce the Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate

Section 57 Licensing Act 2003

The holder of the premises licence must secure that the original licence or a certified copy (certified by solicitor/notary) is kept at the premises in the custody or under the control of:-

• the holder of the licence, or
• a person who works at the premises and whom the holder of the licence has nominated in writing for these purposes.

Please find under downloads a section 57 notice template for your use.

Section 94 Licensing Act 2003

The secretary of the club must secure that the original certificate or a certified copy (certified by solicitor/notary) is kept at the premises in the custody or under the control of a nominated person:

• the secretary of the club, any member of the club, any person who works at the premises for the purposes of the club
• has been nominated by the secretary in writing and has been identified to the licensing authority in a notice given by the secretary

Display of the Summary of the Premises Licence or Club Premises Certificate

Section 57 Licensing Act 2003

The holder of the premises licence must secure that:

• the summary of the licence or a certified copy of that summary (certified by solicitor/notary), and
• a notice specifying the position held at the premises by any person nominated for this purpose (the notice from the company/premises licence holder giving the manager responsibility for looking after the licence).

Both documents must be prominently displayed at the premises for customers to be able to read clearly.

Section 94 Licensing Act 2003

The nominated person must secure that:

• the summary of the certificate or a certified copy of that summary (certified by solicitor/notary), and
• a notice specifying the position which he holds at the premises, are prominently displayed at the premises.

Both documents must be prominently displayed at the premises for members and guests to be able to read clearly.

Sales of Alcohol authorised

It is recommended that the designated premises supervisor authorises staff in an authorisation form to sell and serve alcohol in his/her absence.  We suggest that this be kept at the premises to confirm that individuals who are not personal licence holders are authorised to sell alcohol in the absence of the designated premises supervisor. 

Please find under downloads an authorisation to sell alcohol list that a designated premises supervisor can use to authorise other staff members to sell alcohol.

Incident Records

An incident register allows licensees to record incidents involving violence and anti-social behaviour, as well as people being asked to leave or refused entry to licensed premises.

If you fail to have incident records/register as a result of a condition the licence holder commits an offence under Section 136 Licensing Act 2003.  It is your responsibility to ensure that procedures are put in place to ensure that the incident register is being properly maintained. This may require you to delegate responsibility to duty managers or other key staff at your premises.  If you do this, you should emphasise your legal obligations and the importance of maintaining the register in accordance with the requirements of the law.

It is also useful to educate all your staff as part of an induction or ongoing staff training program of the importance and value of maintaining an incident register so that they understand its importance in supporting a safe and responsible premises.

Regularly reviewing the recording of incidents with staff, as soon as possible after each incident, will help to ensure that incidents are recorded in a consistent and accurate manner.

Records to contain relevant information

We would recommend that they contain the following information:-

• the name of the premises
• details of the incident
• description/names of offenders and witnesses involved in the incident
• the date and time when the incident took place
• the location at the premises where the incident took place
• the full name of any approved manager who was on duty when the incident took place
• the full name of each employee of the licensee involved in the incident
• details of any action taken by the licensee, an approved manager or an employee in response to
  the incident, including any action taken to notify the licensing authority or a member of the Police or any other person engaged in providing emergency services.

Nature of incidents

This information must be recorded in respect of incidents of the following nature:-

• a person is refused entry because they are drunk
• a person is refused entry for behaving in an offensive manner including disorderly or indecent behaviour
• a person who has been refused entry to the premises continually attempts to gain entry or behaves in an offensive manner including violent, quarrelsome, disorderly or indecent behaviour
• a person is required to leave or is removed from the premises
• an underage person or suspected underage person fails to produce evidence of age when required to do so
• a document produced by an underage person or suspected underage person as evidence of age is suspected to be forged, false or counterfeit
• a local resident or other person complains to the licensee, an approved manager or an employee about noise or any other matter related to the business conducted under the licence.

Updating records

Incidents should be recorded in the register as soon as practicable after the incident occurs. What is practicable will depend on the individual circumstances of the premises, such as opening hours and the nature of the incident. A 24 hour timeframe may be reasonable for some premises whereas the next working day will be better suited to premises that do not trade on a daily basis.

All incident report forms should be stored together on the licensed premises and be readily accessible for inspection by an authorised officer or police.  It maybe easier for smaller premises to buy a diary (page per day) and require staff to enter incidents into the diary.

CCTV

If you have CCTV in your premises, you must display signage to advise people they are being recorded.  You should also ensure your CCTV is registered with the Information Commissioners Office.