Club premises certificates

S.73 Licensing Act 2003

Certificate authorising supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises

(1) A club premises certificate may not authorise the supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises unless it also authorises the supply of alcohol to a member of the club for consumption on those premises.
(2) A club premises certificate which authorises the supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises must include the following conditions.
(3) The first condition is that the supply must be made at a time when the premises are open for the purposes of supplying alcohol, in accordance with the club premises certificate, to members of the club for consumption on the premises.
(4) The second condition is that any alcohol supplied for consumption off the premises must be in a sealed container.
(5) The third condition is that any supply of alcohol for consumption off the premises must be made to a member of the club in person.

The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2014

1. (1) The responsible person must ensure that staff on relevant premises do not carry out, arrange or participate in any irresponsible promotions in relation to the premises.
(2) In this paragraph, an irresponsible promotion means any one or more of the following activities, or substantially similar activities, carried on for the purpose of encouraging the sale or supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises:

(a) games or other activities which require or encourage, or are designed to require or encourage, individuals to:

(i) drink a quantity of alcohol within a time limit (other than to drink alcohol sold or supplied on the premises before the cessation of the period in which the responsible person is authorised to sell or supply alcohol), or
(ii) drink as much alcohol as possible (whether within a time limit or otherwise);

(b) provision of unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee to the public or to a group defined by a particular characteristic in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective;
(c) provision of free or discounted alcohol or any other thing as a prize to encourage or reward the purchase and consumption of alcohol over a period of 24 hours or less in a manner which carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective;
(d) selling or supplying alcohol in association with promotional posters or flyers on, or in the vicinity of, the premises which can reasonably be considered to condone, encourage or glamorise anti-social behaviour or to refer to the effects of drunkenness in any favourable manner;
(e) dispensing alcohol directly by one person into the mouth of another (other than where that other person is unable to drink without assistance by reason of disability).

2. The responsible person must ensure that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available.
3. (1) The premises licence holder or club premises certificate holder must ensure that an age verification policy is adopted in respect of the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol.
(2) The designated premises supervisor in relation to the premises licence must ensure that the supply of alcohol at the premises is carried on in accordance with the age verification policy.
(3) The policy must require individuals who appear to the responsible person to be under 18 years of age (or such older age as may be specified in the policy) to produce on request, before being served alcohol, identification bearing their photograph, date of birth and either:

(a) a holographic mark, or
(b) an ultraviolet feature.

4. The responsible person must ensure that:

(a)where any of the following alcoholic drinks is sold or supplied for consumption on the premises (other than alcoholic drinks sold or supplied having been made up in advance ready for sale or supply in a securely closed container) it is available to customers in the following measures:

(i) beer or cider: ½ pint;
(ii) gin, rum, vodka or whisky: 25 ml or 35 ml; and
(iii) still wine in a glass: 125 ml;

(b) these measures are displayed in a menu, price list or other printed material which is available to customers on the premises; and
(c) where a customer does not in relation to a sale of alcohol specify the quantity of alcohol to be sold, the customer is made aware that these measures are available.”

The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2014

1. A relevant person shall ensure that no alcohol is sold or supplied for consumption on or off the premises for a price which is less than the permitted price.
2. For the purposes of the condition set out in paragraph 1:

(a) “duty” is to be construed in accordance with the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979;
(b) “permitted price” is the price found by applying the formula —Where: P is the permitted price,

(ii) D is the rate of duty chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the duty were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol, and
(iii) V is the rate of value added tax chargeable in relation to the alcohol as if the value added tax were charged on the date of the sale or supply of the alcohol;

(c) “relevant person” means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a premises licence:

(i) the holder of the premises licence,
(ii) the designated premises supervisor (if any) in respect of such a licence, or
(iii) the personal licence holder who makes or authorises a supply of alcohol under such a licence;

(d) “relevant person” means, in relation to premises in respect of which there is in force a club premises certificate, any member or officer of the club present on the premises in a capacity which enables the member or officer to prevent the supply in question; and
(e) “valued added tax” means value added tax charged in accordance with the Value Added Tax Act 1994

3. Where the permitted price given by Paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 would (apart from this paragraph) not be a whole number of pennies, the price given by that sub-paragraph shall be taken to be the price actually given by that sub-paragraph rounded up to the nearest penny.
4. (1) Sub-paragraph (2) applies where the permitted price given by Paragraph (b) of paragraph 2 on a day (“the first day”) would be different from the permitted price on the next day (“the second day”) as a result of a change to the rate of duty or value added tax.
(2) The permitted price which would apply on the first day applies to sales or supplies of alcohol which take place before the expiry of the period of 14 days beginning on the second day.

A club can have a Premises Licence instead of, or as well as, a Club Premises Certificate. The advantage of having a Premises Licence is that members of the public may be admitted to take part in licensable activities, instead of just members and guests. Our licensing payments page explains what fees apply and how to pay them.

Qualifying clubs may apply for a Club Premises Certificate instead of a Premises Licence. This offers several benefits, including not having to nominate a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) or have a Personal Licence holder for the sale or supply of alcohol. 

A qualifying club:

• has a constitution and a set of club rules
• has a minimum of 25 members
• only supplies alcohol to, or on behalf of, a member
• must have a 48 hour waiting period for membership
• is managed by a committee.

It is now possible for community, church, chapel and village halls to apply to remove the conditions in which it states that they must have a Designated Premises Supervisor(DPS) who is a Personal Licence holder to authorise every supply of alcohol.  They can replace it by naming the management committee as responsible for the supply of alcohol. 

General conditions for qualifying clubs:

• a person may not be given membership or as a candidate for membership to any membership privileges without an interval of at least two days from their membership application or nomination and their membership being granted
• that club rules state that those becoming member without nomination or application cannot have membership privileges for at least two days between them becoming members and being admitted to the club;
• that the club is established and conducted in good faith;
• that the club has at least 25 members;
• that alcohol is only supplied to members on the premises on behalf of or by the club.

Additional conditions relating to the supply of alcohol:

• that alcohol purchased for and supplied by the club is only to members of club who are over 18 years of age and are elected to do so by the members;
• that no person at the expense of the club receives any commission, percentage or other similar payment in regard to the purchase of alcohol by the club;
• that there are no arrangements for anyone to receive a financial benefit from supplying alcohol, apart from any benefit to the club or to any person indirectly from the supply giving a gain from running the club.

Registered industrial and provident societies and friendly societies will qualify if the alcohol is purchased for and supplied by the club is done under the control of the members or a committee of members.

You must complete:

• the Declaration and new application form club premises certificate and send this with the correct payment. Our licensing payments page‌ explains what fees apply and how to pay them. If you have paid by debit/credit card or by Bacs before you have submitted your application form then you must include a copy of your receipt with the application. Any application received without the payment will not be processed.‌ If an application has been verified by us and it is deemed as invalid/incomplete then the application fee will be non refundable and you will be required to resubmit your application and pay the appropriate fee again.
• Public notice of new club premises certificate. 

Please send a photo of the public notice displayed on the premises within 48 hours of submitting your application. Failure to provide a copy of this notice, may result in your application being invalid and you will be required to re-submit the application with full fee.

If posting in the application form(s) (except minor variations) you are required to serve a copy of the application, including the accompanying documentation, to the responsible authorities on the same day as the application is given to us. If the application is submitted electronically, we will provide copies to the responsible authorities. We can only accept applications for premises within our local authority area.

Please submit your application form(s) together with the fee and any supporting documentation if applicable. Failure to do this will result in your application being rejected and you will be required to re-submit all the necessary documentation at the same time. If your payment is received prior to you submitting your application then please forward the receipt with the application form or write the receipt number on the application form to enable us to process your application.

Our licensing payments page explains what fees apply and how to pay them.

If the annual fee is not paid your Club Premises Certificate will be suspended until the payment has been paid. This means you will not be able to open to provide licensable activities. Carrying out unlicensed licensable activities carries a penalty of an unlimited fine and up to six months imprisonment on conviction.

Any business buying alcohol from a UK wholesaler for onward supply to their customers will need to check that their wholesaler has been approved by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) under the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS).