Alcohol licence guide

Application

Your application form must be completed and lodged 42 days before your event.

Occasional licence application form

Supplementary application information form

Occasional licence guidance notes

Once an application has been lodged, the licensing authority will advertise the application on the East Lothian Council website for seven days, and consult with Police Scotland and the Licensing Standards Officer (LSO).  Any person can object to an occasional licence application during the time it is advertised and Police Scotland/the LSO have 21 days to respond to the consultation.  We will not accept your application if it is received without allowing sufficient time for Police Scotland or the LSO to report on.  Should there be any objections or representation, the application will be considered by the Licensing Board and conditions (in addition to the Mandatory Conditions) may be imposed on any granted application.

If the application includes an outdoor area, you must send us a layout plan showing the area to be licensed.

Fees

A fee of £10 must be lodged with every occasional licence application.

Repeat applications

Repeated applications for the same premises and which are:

• Not for specific events; and/or
• For activities that have been occurring (either in identical or largely similar terms) on the premises regularly over a period of at least three months

Will not generally be considered suitable for the grant of an occasional licence and will not be granted by the Board under delegated authority, but will require to be considered by Board.  It is generally expected, that the premises in question should consider an application for a Premises Licence.

The scrutiny given to an application for a Premises Licence is not available where premises operate under a series of consecutive Occasional Licenses.  In the interests of securing public safety and protecting and improving public health, the Board considers that it is not appropriate for a premises to operate on a series of consecutive Occasional Licenses rather than apply for a Premises Licence.  The Board will require any applicant to explain at a Hearing why an application for a Premises Licence is not being made, unless the Clerk of the Board is satisfied that there are good reasons that prevent such an application.

Voluntary Organisations

Voluntary organisations are subject to quotas.  No more than:

• 4 licenses lasting more than 4 days each
• 12 licenses lasting less than 4 days in any 12 month period

Will be issued to a voluntary organisation.  The total number of days operating under an occasional licence cannot exceed 56 days.

Definition of a Voluntary Organisation

A group of people who have decided to work together to accomplish a common agreed non-commercial purpose.  Voluntary organisations are formally constituted, non-profit making bodies which consist of a group of volunteers who do not get paid or employ staff.  The main aim of a voluntary organisation is to deliver social benefit in a variety of forms, rather than to generate profit for distribution to its members.

What is a Constitution?

In basic terms, a constitution is simply a set of written rules or an agreement governing the aims of your organisation, how it will be run and how the members will work together.  It is important to remember that a constitution should be a working document and not just a one-off exercise conducted at the setup of a group and then put on a shelf.  The committee should review it's constitution regularly to ensure that it is still fit for purpose.

What is a Constitution made up of?

Although every constitution is different and should accurately reflect what a group wants to do, most have similarities in terms of their structure, and will more than likely include the following ten points:

1. Name of your organisation                                                          6.   Management Committee
2. Aims of your organisation (sometimes known as 'objects')         7.   Meetings
3. Powers                                                                                        8.   Finance
4. Membership                                                                                9.   Dissolution
5. Management Committee                                                           10.   Amendments to the constitution

Sample Constitution

Occasional Licence application advertisements

East Lothian Licencing Board are required to advertise Occasional licence applications for a period of seven days.  Objections or Representations can be lodged with the Licensing Authority (licensing@eastlothian.gov.uk) during the advertising period.  You can find the deadline date on the advertisement.

Information on objections/representations to alcohol licence applications

**Please note: application fees are non-refundable**