Licensed Premises Policies and Procedures

Good licensing policies do more than answer a document request or sit in a folder. They translate a premises licence, operating schedule and real operating risks into clear instructions that managers, bar staff, security teams and contractors can follow during a live shift.

Complete Licensing designs, reviews and helps businesses implement bespoke policies and procedures for licensed premises across England and Wales. We support pubs, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, off-licences, convenience stores, theatres, entertainment venues, festivals, events and multi-site hospitality groups.

Rather than forcing a venue into a generic policy pack, we start with the way it actually operates: its licence and conditions, layout, capacity, hours, activities, customers, locality, outside areas, complaints and incident history. The result can combine a clear policy framework with site-specific procedures, responsibilities, risk assessments, registers, checklists, training records and review triggers.

Whether you need one urgent policy, a full operating pack or an independent review of existing documents, we can make the requirements practical and proportionate.

What sets Complete Licensing apart is that we can review the premises licence, operating evidence and authority concerns, draft the policy, and help put in place the logs, training records and management checks that show it is being used.

Need a policy for an application, inspection, police meeting or licence review? Tell us the premises, the deadline and the issue you need to address. Request a policy-review call-back or call about an urgent policy requirement.

What should a licensed premises policy achieve?

An effective policy should answer five practical questions:

• who is responsible;
• what they must do;
• when they must escalate a concern;
• what record must be made; and
• how management will check that the procedure is being followed.

Where a policy is being relied upon for Licensing Act purposes, it should support one or more of the four licensing objectives under the Licensing Act 2003:

• the prevention of crime and disorder;
• public safety;
• the prevention of public nuisance; and
• the protection of children from harm.

Policies can help an operator demonstrate responsible management, consistent decision-making and a credible response to identified risk. They can support an application, variation, inspection, authority meeting or remedial action plan. They do not, by themselves, guarantee that an application will be granted, an objection withdrawn or a review resolved in a particular way.

A policy is not the same as a premises licence condition

A policy normally explains how the business intends to operate. A premises licence condition is a binding requirement on the licence. Measures proposed in an operating schedule may become licence conditions if the licence is granted.

That distinction matters. The statutory section 182 Guidance says licence conditions should be clear, precise, enforceable, proportionate and tailored to the individual premises. We help operators describe workable controls without confusing internal good practice with a permanent legal restriction.

When do you need policy drafting or review?

Complete Licensing can help when:

• you are applying for a new premises licence or a variation;
• the operating schedule requires clearer, site-specific control measures;
• a police, licensing, Trading Standards or Environmental Health officer has requested a policy;
• the licence or a voluntary agreement requires a management plan or procedure;
• a serious incident, test purchase, complaint trend or suspected breach has exposed a gap;
• you are responding to an objection, warning, action plan or premises licence review;
• a new operator, designated premises supervisor, manager or security contractor is taking over;
• the layout, capacity, hours, entertainment, outside space or customer profile is changing;
• a venue is introducing deliveries, late-night refreshment, events, shisha or another new activity;
• an existing document is outdated, generic, contradictory or difficult for staff to use;
• a hospitality group needs common standards without ignoring local licence conditions; or
• a scheduled review or internal audit shows that procedures and records need to be refreshed.

If an authority deadline or hearing date has been set, early contact gives us time to examine the licence, understand the evidence, speak to the relevant people and produce a document that can be implemented before it is relied upon.

Policies and procedures we prepare

Not every premises needs every policy. The right set depends on the licensable activities, operating model, premises licence, local Statement of Licensing Policy, locality and evidence of actual risk.

Operating schedules and premises management plans

We can draft or review the operational controls that sit behind a licence application or day-to-day compliance, including:

• operating schedule measures for a new application or variation;
• a premises licence condition compliance manual or checklist;
• management responsibilities and escalation routes;
• designated premises supervisor handover and management procedures;
• opening, trading, handover and close-down routines;
• authority contact and document-production procedures;
• incident notification and management review arrangements; and
• a group-wide policy framework supported by a venue-specific schedule.

For new premises licence applications and changes to an existing premises licence, the wording should be specific enough to give the authority confidence but practical enough to work after the licence is granted.

Crime and disorder policies for licensed premises

Crime and disorder policies may cover:

• security strategy and risk-based door-supervisor deployment;
• admission, queue, search, refusal, ejection and readmission procedures;
• drugs, weapons and corrosive-substance controls;
• drink-spiking prevention, awareness, welfare response and evidence preservation;
• CCTV operation, routine checks, access and lawful disclosure;
• incident reporting, escalation and police liaison;
• management of drunkenness, disorder and aggressive behaviour; and
• major incidents, preservation of potential evidence, prompt police liaison and post-incident review.

Searches, refusals and interventions must be lawful, safe and appropriate to the venue. A policy should not give staff powers they do not have or require a single response regardless of the circumstances.

Age-verification and Challenge 25 policies

Premises authorised to sell or supply alcohol must operate an age-verification policy under the mandatory licensing conditions. We can prepare or review:

• Challenge 25 or another agreed age-verification scheme;
• acceptable identification and age-checking procedures;
• refusals, proxy sales and attempted purchase records;
• till prompts and management checks;
• remote and delivery-sale age verification where relevant;
• staff training, supervision and competency checks;
• child safeguarding procedures; and
• controls for age-restricted entertainment or activities.

Challenge 25 is widely used good practice, but the precise requirement depends on the mandatory conditions, premises licence and any additional local condition.

[/blog/challenge-25/](Read Complete Licensing’s Challenge 25 guidance)

Customer welfare, vulnerability and safeguarding

Welfare procedures help staff recognise a person who may be intoxicated, separated from friends, harassed, exploited, unwell or otherwise vulnerable. Depending on the venue, a policy may include:

• early identification and respectful intervention;
• a safe place and a clear route to medical help;
• suspected spiking response and evidence preservation;
• Ask for Angela or another discreet help scheme;
• sexual harassment and assault response;
• safe refusals, ejections and arrangements for getting home;
• first-aid and emergency-service escalation;
• safeguarding responsibilities and information sharing; and
• recording, management review and staff debriefing.

Welfare is not a separate fifth licensing objective. The measures should be connected to the relevant licensing objectives and to the venue’s wider safeguarding, health and safety and emergency arrangements.

Read about WAVE welfare training and Ask for Angela in practice.

Noise-management and dispersal policies

A clear public-nuisance policy can address both the premises and customers in its immediate vicinity. Documents may cover:

• amplified music and sound-management controls;
• noise limiter and entertainment checks;
• customer noise in queues, gardens, smoking areas and other outside spaces;
• dispersal at the end of trading or after an event;
• taxi, private-hire, public-transport and pick-up arrangements;
• deliveries, waste, bottle disposal, collections and external cleaning;
• lighting, odour, litter and street fouling;
• noise patrols and management records;
• neighbour contact, complaint handling and escalation; and
• outdoor events, temporary structures and temporary activities.

A dispersal policy should reflect the exits, transport options, local residents, closing pattern and matters within the operator’s control. It should not make unrealistic promises about customers after they have left the premises and its immediate vicinity.

Read our guide to preventing public nuisance, download the public-nuisance self-assessment checklist or explore our acoustic and noise-management expertise.

Public safety, capacity and emergency procedures

Depending on the instruction, we can help develop:

• capacity and occupancy-control procedures;
• queue, entrance, exit and customer-flow arrangements;
• crowd management and event-day controls;
• first-aid, accident and emergency response procedures;
• evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and emergency communication arrangements;
• major-incident response, preservation of potential evidence and prompt police liaison;
• contractor, delivery and back-of-house controls;
• outside-area, smoking-area and shisha procedures; and
• opening, closing and safety checklists.

Licensing policies do not replace the separate fire, health and safety, data-protection or other assessments required by law. Where specialist assessment is needed, we identify it and can work alongside an appropriately qualified adviser.

Policy packs for festivals and licensed events

For festivals and major events, a complete management system may include:

• an event management plan;
• event-specific risk and security assessments;
• an alcohol and age-verification plan;
• a crowd and capacity management plan;
• a traffic, taxi and transport plan;
• noise, waste and neighbour-management arrangements;
• safeguarding and welfare procedures;
• contractor and trader requirements;
• emergency and major-incident procedures; and
• command, communication, recording and post-event review arrangements.

These documents should work together. Conflicting responsibilities, outdated maps or different versions in circulation can create avoidable risk even when each document looks reasonable in isolation.

Counter-terrorism procedures and Martyn’s Law readiness

Some venues and events already maintain public-protection procedures as good practice or under existing licensing, safety or event-management arrangements. Martyn’s Law will introduce additional statutory duties for qualifying premises and events when its substantive provisions come into force.

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, has received Royal Assent. At July 2026, its substantive duties are not yet in force; the Security Industry Authority currently expects the new regime to come into force in spring 2027. Coverage and duties will depend on the legislation, regulations and the number of people reasonably expected to be present, not simply the capacity printed on a premises licence.

We can help a business review its current procedures and prepare for the new regime without presenting future duties as if they already apply. The Government’s Martyn’s Law guidance and the SIA’s explanation of its regulatory role should be checked again before publication or implementation.

Multi-site group policies with venue-specific schedules

A group needs consistency, but identical wording can hide important local differences. Complete Licensing can build a central policy framework with a schedule for each venue recording matters such as:

• the licence number, premises licence holder and designated premises supervisor;
• authorised activities, hours and key conditions;
• capacity, layout, entrances, exits and customer profile;
• children, outside areas, smoking or shisha arrangements;
• noise-sensitive neighbours and complaint routes;
• local authority or police contacts;
• security arrangements and risk-based deployment; and
• site-specific exceptions, controls and review actions.

This structure gives managers a common standard while keeping the operational detail connected to each premises licence and locality.

More than policy wording: the operational documents behind it

Good implementation often requires more than a narrative policy. Depending on the scope, we can prepare or review:

• licensing-, venue- and event-specific risk-assessment forms;
• licence-condition, opening, close-down, CCTV and security checks;
• incident, refusal, search, ejection and welfare records;
• noise, litter, external-area patrol and resident-complaint records;
• training, competency and policy-acknowledgement records; and
• handover checklists, review records and version control.

Some of these are policies; others are risk assessments, plans, registers, logs or checklists. We label each document accurately and design the pack so staff can find the right instruction and record at the point they need it.

The aim is an operating system, not paperwork for a shelf.

How our policy design and review service works

1. Scope the operation and the immediate issue

We establish what the premises does, who will use the document, why it is needed and when it must be ready. If the instruction follows an incident, complaint or authority concern, we identify the urgent remedial actions as well as the drafting task.

2. Review the licence, local policy and available evidence

We examine the current premises licence and conditions, plan, operating schedule, relevant local licensing policy, existing procedures and records. Depending on the matter, we may also review authority correspondence, representations, incident material, complaints, CCTV information or previous action plans.

3. Understand the premises in practice

We speak to the operator and relevant managers. A site visit may be recommended where the layout, outside areas, customer flow, noise sensitivity, security deployment or actual working practice cannot be understood reliably from documents alone.

4. Draft a tailored, usable document

The draft sets out responsibilities, day-to-day procedure, escalation, record keeping, management assurance and review triggers. We remove generic material that does not apply and avoid commitments that staff cannot realistically deliver.

5. Test the policy with the people who will use it

We can refine the draft with the premises licence holder, DPS, managers, security provider and other relevant specialists. Where appropriate and authorised, it can also support constructive discussion with a responsible authority or the operator’s solicitor.

6. Implement, evidence and review

We can help turn the final policy into briefing material, training records, logs, checklists and management audits. A review date is agreed, with additional reviews triggered by serious incidents, enforcement visits, complaint patterns, changes in layout or operation, or new legal requirements.

Policy work may form part of ongoing licensing compliance, an urgent response to a premises licence review, or a remedial package assessed through licensing expert reports and hearing evidence.

Case study: operational and compliance planning for Epping Playhouse

At Epping Playhouse, Complete Licensing examined the operation’s security, safeguarding, licence compliance and venue management, then prepared a comprehensive council consultation document covering entrance checks, capacity, incident recording and safety training.

The public project shows how operational controls, records and checks can be brought together around a live venue, rather than treated as unrelated paperwork.

Read the Epping Playhouse case study

Why choose Complete Licensing?

Policy wording is strongest when it is informed by licensing practice as well as document drafting. Depending on the issue, Complete Licensing can draw on experienced licensing, compliance, policing, security, environmental health, venue-safety and event specialists.

That practical experience helps us:

• connect each document to the premises licence and licensing objectives;
• recognise the questions a responsible authority is likely to ask;
• distinguish a policy from a risk assessment, management plan, record or licence condition;
• make responsibilities and escalation clear to staff;
• design evidence that managers can check and retrieve;
• combine group standards with genuine site-specific controls; and
• support the same operator through an application, compliance concern or hearing.

We can work directly with an operator or alongside its licensing consultant, solicitor or barrister. Complete Licensing is not a law firm and does not conduct reserved legal activities. Where legal advice, conduct of litigation or court advocacy is required, the operator should instruct an appropriately authorised legal professional.

Meet our licensing and compliance specialists

What to tell us

Tell us:

• the type of premises or event;
• the licensing authority;
• whether this is a new application, variation, inspection, objection, review or compliance project;
• which policies or operational issues are involved;
• any authority, hearing or event deadline; and
• whether you need drafting only or help with implementation and staff records.

If available, send the current premises licence, plan, existing policies and relevant authority correspondence. Do not delay contacting us because the paperwork is incomplete; we can identify what is needed during the initial review.

Request a confidential policy review

Questions and answers