Temporary Event Notices (TEN)

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If you wish to hold a small, ad hoc event in England or Wales you must give a temporary event notice (TEN) to your local licensing authority if the event includes any of these licensable activities:

  • sale by retail of alcohol
  • the provision of regulated entertainment
  • the provision of late night refreshment.

A TEN only applies if less than 500 people (including any event staff) will be attending an event which lasts no longer than 168 hours, otherwise a premises licence is required.

A TEN is not an application but is a notice that is given by an individual who is then known as the relevant premises user.

The premises user is required to notify the licensing authority, the police and the noise nuisance department of such an event.

Unlike a premises licence there is no requirement to indicate what measures shall be taken to promote the licensing objectives.

A TEN is suitable for all events including outdoor events where licensable activities are required for a short duration or one-off event.

Christmas/New Year 2023 TEN application deadlines

Please note the below dates that Temporary Event Notice applications for the Christmas and New Year period, must be submitted by, to be processed within the required timescales.

Christmas Eve (24 December 2023)     

  • Standard TEN by 8 December 2023
  • Late TEN by 15 December 2023

Christmas Day (25 December 2023)     

  • Standard TEN by 8 December 2023 
  •  Late TEN by 15 December 2023

Boxing Day (26 December 2023)

  • Standard TEN by 8 December 2023            
  • Late TEN by 15 December 2023               

New Year's Eve (31 December 2023)    

  • Standard TEN by 13 December 2023
  •  Late TEN by 20 December 2023 

New Year's Day (1 January 2024)

  • Standard TEN by 13 December 2023              
  • Late TEN by 20 December 2023              

Who can apply for a TEN

You must:

  • be over 18 years of age
  • have held no more than 20 TENs in the current calendar year at the premises. If previous temporary events have been held and lasted more than one day, the total number of days for the calendar year must not exceed 26 days
  • have a minimum of 24 hours between events
  • if the person holds a personal licence: have given no more than 50 TENs in the current calendar year
  • if the person does not hold a personal licence: have given no more than 5 TENs in the current calendar year.

When to apply for a TEN

A TEN is not required to stage a performance of live music, or the playing of recorded music if:

  • it takes place between 8am and 11pm, and
  • it takes place at an alcohol on-licensed premises; and
  • the audience is no more than 500 people.

You also don’t need a TEN:

  • to put on unamplified live music at any place between the same hours; or
  • to put on amplified live music at a workplace between the same hours and provided the audience is no more than 500 people.

There are exemptions from the need for a TEN for music entertainment including for:

  • places of public worship, village halls, church halls and other similar buildings
  • schools
  • hospitals
  • local authority premises
  • incidental music - music that is incidental to other activities that aren’t classed as regulated entertainment i.e. background music at a restaurant played at low levels.

TEN to put on a play or a performance of dance

Whether a TEN is needed for a performance of a play or a dance will depend on the circumstances. A TEN is not required to stage a performance of a play or a performance of dance if:

  • it takes place between 8AM and 11PM; and
  • the audience is no more than 500 people.

TEN to stage an indoor sporting event

A TEN is not required to stage an indoor sporting event if:

  • it takes place between 8AM and 11PM; and
  • the number of spectators is not more than 1000 people.

TEN to stage boxing or wrestling

You will need a TEN to stage boxing, wrestling and mixed martial arts.

TEN to screen a film

A TEN is needed to screen a film or exhibit moving pictures. There are exemptions from the need for a TEN for film entertainment including for:

  • places of public worship, village halls, church halls and other similar buildings
  • education
  • incidental film – moving pictures that are incidental to other activities that aren’t classed as regulated entertainment
  • television broadcasts.

In other circumstances, a TEN may be required to show a film:

  • in public
  • or in private, if those attending are charged for entry and the intention is to make a profit, including raising money for charity.

Licensing of entertainment under the Licensing Act 2003 is entirely separate from copyright authorisation to show films in public.

How to apply

The person giving the TEN must serve the notice within a minimum of 10 clear working days of the event. Ten working days' notice means ten working days exclusive of the day on which the event is to start, and exclusive of the day on which the notice is given.

Apply for a TEN online

If you apply online you do not need to send copies of the application to the police and noise team as the licensing authority will do this for you. Apply for a TEN online

Apply for a TEN by post

The TEN must be given on the prescribed form which you can download from GOV.uk. You must provide on this form:

  • details of the licensable activities
  • the event period
  • the times when during that period the activities will take place
  • the maximum number of people proposed to be allowed on the premises
  • if alcohol is to be supplied, whether consumption will take place on the premises or off the premises or both
  • any other required matters
  • if alcohol is to be supplied, a statement confirming that it is a condition of using the premises that the supplies are made under the premises user's authority.

How much it costs to apply

The TEN must be accompanied by the non-refundable prescribed fee of £21. If you are submitting a TEN through the post, please provide us with a contact number so that we can call you for the application fee, upon receipt of the Notice.

The licensing authority will acknowledge receipt of the notice by giving a notice to the premises user before the end of the first working day it was received or before the end of the second working day if the day the notice was received is not a working day.

Where you must send copies of the TEN

If you apply by post, a copy of the TEN must also be given to the Metropolitan Police and the London Borough of Barnet Noise Nuisance team.  These are the addresses to which copies of the TEN must be sent:

Metropolitan Police
Police Licensing
Room 3.04 Charter Gate
South Harrow Police Station 
74 Northolt Road
Harrow
HA2 0DN

Barnet Noise Nuisance Team
2 Bristol Avenue
Colindale
London
NW9 4EW

What happens next

Where the police or the noise nuisance team are satisfied that allowing the premises to be used in accordance with the TEN would undermine the licensing objective, they must give an objection notice to the licensing authority and the premises user within 48 hours of being given a copy of the TEN.

The licensing authority must then hold a hearing to consider the objection notice unless the premises user, the police, the noise nuisance department and the authority agree that a hearing is unnecessary. At any time before the hearing, the police or the noise team may modify the TEN with the consent of the premises user. In such a case, an objection notice will be deemed to have been withdrawn.

The decision to issue a counter notice must be taken by the licensing authority at least 24 hours before the beginning of the event period specified in the TEN.

Serving a late TEN

In certain circumstances a TEN can still be accepted outside these timescales. This is called a late TEN.  These apply to those TENs which are served between 5 and 9 clear working days of the event, not including the day the application is received by the authority or the day the event is due to take place.

A personal licence holder can serve 10 late TENs a year and a non-personal licence holder can only serve 2.

However, should a counter notice be served in relation to a late TEN the notice will be deemed refused with no hearing held.

Contact

Community Protection (Regulation) Licensing Team
2 Bristol Avenue
Colindale
London
NW9 4EW

Tel: 020 8359 7443
Email: licensingadmin@barnet.gov.uk