Temporary Event Notices Applications (TEN)

A Temporary Event Notice is how you authorise licensable activities for a wedding, a festival, a pop-up bar, a community event, or a night when you want to trade later than your licence allows.

We check whether you need one, whether your event fits inside the statutory limits, and when the notice has to be given. Then we prepare it, serve it, deal with the council, the police and environmental health, and represent you if it is opposed.

The deadlines are strict, and weekends and bank holidays do not count as working days. If your event is less than a fortnight away, call us now on 0207 222 2345.

What is a Temporary Event Notice?

A TEN is a temporary permission for licensable activities under the Licensing Act 2003. It is not an application that somebody grants — it is a notice that you give, and it takes effect unless it is objected to or a counter notice is issued. That distinction matters, because it means nobody is going to check your work for you.

A TEN can be used at premises with no premises licence, at licensed premises that want to open later or add an activity for one occasion, and at outdoor spaces, marquees, community centres, village halls and pop-up sites.

The individual who gives the notice is the premises user, and they carry the responsibility for the event.

What can a TEN cover?

• the sale of alcohol
• the supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club
• regulated entertainment, where permission is needed for it
• late night refreshment — hot food or hot drink supplied between 11pm and 5am

It can also extend what an existing premises licence already allows. A pub licensed until midnight can use a TEN to keep going afterwards for a particular event, provided every TEN limit is still met.

Not every event involving music, food or alcohol needs one. Some activities are exempt, and your existing licence may already cover what you are planning.

Check your existing premises licence first

You may already have the permission you are about to pay for. Premises licences often include extended hours before bank holidays, non-standard timings for particular dates, permission for outdoor areas, regulated entertainment, late night refreshment, or special arrangements for sporting events.

Read the exact wording — the hours, the activities, the plan and the conditions. Send us the licence and we will tell you whether a TEN appears necessary before you give one you did not need or advertise hours you cannot lawfully trade.

Temporary Event Notice limits

Every TEN has to sit inside the statutory limits. There is no discretion in these and no procedure for exceeding them.

Limit	Requirement
Maximum attendance	499 people at any one time
Who counts towards it	Everyone present — customers, guests, staff, performers and organisers
Maximum duration of one TEN	168 hours, or seven days
Maximum TENs per premises	15 per calendar year
Maximum event days per premises	21 per calendar year
TENs per person without a personal licence	5 per calendar year
TENs per personal licence holder	50 per calendar year
Late TENs without a personal licence	2, counted within the 5
Late TENs for a personal licence holder	10, counted within the 50
Minimum age of the premises user	18
Minimum gap between TENs at the same premises	24 hours

An event that starts before midnight and runs past it normally counts as two days against the premises’ 21-day limit.

The 24-hour gap applies to separate TENs at the same premises given by the same premises user, or by associates or business partners connected to them. It exists to stop several notices being strung together to get around the seven-day maximum.

Who can give a TEN?

An individual aged 18 or over. A company, charity, club or other organisation cannot be the premises user itself, although an individual can give the notice for an event that an organisation is running.

You do not need a personal licence to give a TEN. Holding one raises your annual allowance from 5 notices to 50, and your late TEN allowance from 2 to 10. It is worth checking how many notices the intended premises user has already given this year before their name goes on the form.

Standard TEN or Late TEN?

Standard Temporary Event Notice

A standard TEN must be received at least ten clear working days before the first day of the event. Not counted in the ten: the day the council receives it, the first day of the event, Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays, Christmas Day and Good Friday.

Ten clear working days is the legal minimum, not a target. Give yourself more, so there is time to look at the event properly and to talk to the authorities if something needs discussing. If the police or environmental health object, a hearing may be held before the sub-committee and conditions can be attached to resolve it.

Late Temporary Event Notice

A late TEN can be given no earlier than nine and no later than five clear working days before the event. Treat it as a last resort, because it has almost no safety net. If the police or environmental health object to a late TEN:

• the notice becomes invalid
• there is no hearing
• conditions cannot be attached to save it
• there is no right of appeal
• the licensable activities cannot go ahead under it

A late TEN given fewer than five clear working days before the event is invalid from the outset.

How the TEN process works

1. Tell us about the event

We will need the date and times, the full location, the specific area where licensable activities will happen, the expected number of people, the activities you want, who the premises user will be, details of any previous TENs at the premises, and a copy of any existing premises licence.

2. We check whether a TEN works

We test the event against the 499-person limit, the 168-hour limit, the personal and premises limits, the 21-day annual limit, the 24-hour separation rule and the submission deadline. If a TEN is the wrong instrument, we will say so and set out whether a premises licence application or a variation would serve you better.

3. We prepare the notice

We complete the notice from the information you have given us. The parts that repay care are the description of the event area, the sale or supply of alcohol, the opening and closing times, activities running past midnight, outdoor areas, temporary bars, regulated entertainment and late night refreshment.

4. The notice is given

The notice goes to the correct licensing authority. Where it is submitted through the council’s electronic system, the council normally forwards it to the police and environmental health. Where it is not, copies have to be served on both separately.

5. The authorities consider it

The police and environmental health have three working days from receiving the notice to object on licensing objective grounds. The council separately checks whether the statutory limits would be exceeded, and can issue a counter notice if they would.

6. We deal with questions or objections

If concerns are raised we talk to the authorities, put together whatever supporting information helps, and look for a resolution. For a standard TEN we can also prepare for and represent you at the sub-committee hearing.

7. You run the event

If the notice is valid, the event has to stay within the dates, times, activities, area and capacity it describes. Anything outside them is unlicensed.

Who can object to a TEN?

Only the police and the local authority exercising environmental health functions can serve a statutory objection notice, and the objection must relate to one or more of the four licensing objectives: the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm.

In practice their concerns are usually noise reaching nearby homes, the number of people expected, security arrangements, dispersal at the end of the night, alcohol-related disorder, event safety, underage sales, welfare and toilet provision, an unsuitable location, a vaguely described event area, or a history of problems at the premises.

What if a standard TEN is objected to?

The police or environmental health will often raise their concerns with the premises user first, and an agreed change can resolve it — the hours, the area in use, the nature of the event, the activities, or the arrangements around it.

Where the objection stands, the licensing authority holds a hearing and can attach conditions to the notice or issue a counter notice preventing the activities. We prepare and present that case.

Events we work on

Weddings and receptions, private parties and celebrations, festivals and community events, village fairs and markets, charity fundraisers, school and college events, village hall and community centre functions, corporate events and product launches, pop-up bars and restaurants, food festivals, outdoor screenings, sporting events, club nights, concerts and live music, temporary bars, Christmas and New Year events, bank holiday events, and extended hours at existing pubs, bars and restaurants.

Common TEN mistakes

• miscalculating the working-day deadline
• counting the guests but forgetting staff and performers against the 499 limit
• describing the event area too vaguely, or more widely than intended
• putting the wrong date on an event that passes midnight
• applying for the wrong licensable activities, or forgetting late night refreshment
• using a premises user who has already reached their annual allowance
• exceeding the premises’ 15-notice or 21-day limit
• failing to leave the required 24-hour gap
• assuming a late TEN will get a hearing if it is objected to
• assuming the notice covers the whole venue rather than the area described
• assuming a TEN replaces planning permission or any other consent
• advertising extended hours before checking the existing licence
• treating the council’s acknowledgement as confirmation that nothing can go wrong

Other permissions you may still need

A TEN deals only with licensable activities under the Licensing Act 2003. Depending on the event you may also need permission from the landowner, planning permission, street trading consent, a road closure order, food business registration, health and safety and fire safety arrangements, building control approval, music copyright licences, and appropriate security and door supervision.

Who you are working with

Our consultants include licensing lawyers and barristers, former senior police officers, environmental health and acoustic specialists, and people who have run events and late-night venues themselves. For a TEN that mostly shows up as knowing which events the police and environmental health actually worry about, and dealing with it before the notice goes in.

Important information about our status

Complete Licensing Limited is an independent licensing consultancy. We are not a law firm and we are not authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority or any other approved legal services regulator. We provide licensing consultancy and representation at local authority licensing hearings; we do not undertake reserved legal activities or represent clients in court. Where court work becomes necessary we can refer you to an authorised solicitor or barrister.

Questions and answers