You will need to advertise a minor variation application for premises licences and for club premises certificates by placing a public notice on the outside of the premises. There is no requirement for a notice to be placed in a newspaper.
The notice must be displayed for a period of not less than ten working days, starting on the day after the day on you give the application to the licensing authority (i.e. if you hand in your application on a Friday then the start date of the ten working day period will generally be the following Monday unless the Monday is a bank holiday when it would be the Tuesday). The notice must be:
- at least A4 in size;
- printed on white paper (not pale blue as required for a full variation application);
- printed legibly or typed in black ink. The heading in a font equal to or larger than 32, the rest of the notice a font equal to or larger than 16.
Public Notice - Content
The notice must contain the following:
- In the case of an application made for a minor variation to a Premises licence (Section 41A), at or near the top of the notice the heading must read Licensing Act 2003: Minor Variation of Premises Licence (printed or typed to a font size to or larger than 32)
- For an application made for a Club Premises certificate (Section 86A), at or near the top of the notice the heading must read Licensing Act 2003: Minor Variation of a Club Premises Certificate (printed or typed to a font size to or larger than 32)
- There must be a brief description of the proposed variation or variations (printed or typed in a font size equal to or larger than 16)
- The name of the applicant or club
- The postal address of the premises or club premises (if there is no postal address a description of the location sufficient to identify the premises)
- The postal address and, where applicable, the worldwide web address where the register of the licensing authority is kept and where and when the record of the application may be inspected
- A statement that any representation must be in writing.
- The date by which an interested party or responsible authority may make representations to the licensing authority. (Within the 10 working days from the working day after the working day the licensing authority receives the application).
- That it is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make a false statement in connection with an application. The maximum fine for which a person could be liable on summary conviction for the offence (scale 5 on the standard scale which is currently £5000).
If in any doubt about the content of the notice, please check with the Licensing Team. If the notice is incorrect, you may have to re-start the consultation period and the process will take longer.
You must display the notice prominently on the premises where it can be conveniently read from the outside by passers-by. If any part of the premises abuts the public highway or other place accessible to the public for 100 or more metres in length a notice must be displayed at least every fifty (50) metres along that part of the perimeter. All notices must be displayed prominently at the premises to which it relates so that it can be read easily from the exterior of the premises.
A template for the notice can be found below:
