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Alcohol and regulated entertainment

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the lead Government Department in relation to regulated entertainment and The Home Office takes the lead in relation to the sale and supply of alcohol.

The Licensing Act 2003 came into effect on 24 November 2005.

It is important that all community buildings and village halls that have public entertainment, sell or supply alcohol on their premises fully understand the law. Village halls are exempt from the licence fees for regulated entertainment but fees are still charged where alcohol sale is included in the licence.

The Police & Social Responsibility Act 2011 has made a number of changes to the Licensing Act 2003. These included some changes to TENs i.e. provisions for giving late TENs and extending the period covered by a single TEN from 96 hours to 168 hours. Detailed guidance on the Licensing Act is available

Fownhope New Memorial Hall is a major film venue for Flicks in the Sticks and the annual Borderline Film Festival

The Live Music Act received Royal Assent on 8 March 2012. The most significant effect of this Act is that small venues such as community centres, pubs and restaurants will be able to put on live music, whether amplified or not, without needing a regulated entertainment licence, and even if the venue has a capacity of more than 200 people, it can put on unamplified live music without a licence.

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10 September 2011

The Department for Culture Media and Sport have announced their intention to deregulate entertainment licensing in the UK. ACRE and the Rural Community Action Network (RCAN) welcome the proposals.

See the Consultation document

For useful information on current licensing legislation see:

Village Hall Information Sheet 9: The Village Hall and its Premises Licence

Village Hall Information Sheet 10: Alcohol in Village Halls

ACRE's third Report from the findings of the 2009 National Village Hall Survey,Rural Community Buildings, Arts, Sports and Licensing Requirements, encouraged Government to ensure that Temporary Event Notices remain a light touch regime for community buildings. For example notice requirements should not be raised, limits relaxed for community buildings and the consent of the comittee should be required in order to allow applications to be controlled given the tight annual limits.

Useful links:

Home Office

Department for Culture Media and Sport