Review a premises licence / club premises certificate

A review is an application to us to consider whether a particular premises is being conducted in accordance with their licence and the terms of the Licensing Act 2003, and to consider taking appropriate action.

A review should not be the first stage in taking action to deal with concerns about licensed premises. Anyone with concerns about such premises should consider whether these could be dealt with by other means, for example:

• asking the licence holder or club secretary to take steps to rectify the situation 
• asking the relevant responsible authority whether there is other legislation which could be used to solve the problem. For instance, Environmental Health may be able to help deal with noise nuisance or the Police may be able to help in cases of crime and disorder at licensed premises.

Making an application for review

Under the Licensing Act 2003, a responsible authority or any other person can make an application for review of a premises licence or review of a club premises certificate. Applications for review are in the public domain and form part of the published licensing register. 

Apply for a review

It is the responsibility of the applicant for review to complete the prescribed form in full, and to serve the original to us, send copies to each of the responsible authorities and to the holder of the premises licence or club secretary. Failure to fully complete the form and serve the copies on each responsible authority and the premises licence holder as required will render the application void. 

To apply for a review, complete the review application form (PDF) [140KB] and return to us by email to contact@chorley.gov.uk. 

Only review applications that relate to at least 1 of the 4 licensing objectives can be considered. The licensing objectives are:

• the prevention of crime and disorder
• public safety
• the prevention of public nuisance
• the protection of children from harm

Review applications must clearly relate to the premises for which the review application is being made. For example, representations on the basis of general noise and disturbance, without evidence of a causal link to specific premises, are unlikely to be persuasive.

If the review application is valid in every other respect, the we are obliged to consider whether the review is frivolous, vexatious or repetitious.

Frivolous

As a general rule, frivolous representations are likely to lack seriousness. This does not mean that a trivial complaint would always be considered frivolous, but it must be serious and be of some substance. It must also relate to 1 or more of the licensing objectives.

Vexatious

Vexatious representations may, for example, arise because of disputes between rival businesses.

Repetitious

A review application will be repetitious if it is identical or substantially similar to a ground of a previous review or representation on an application for the same premises, and a reasonable interval has not elapsed since the previous consideration by us. Statutory guidance suggests that 12 months may be a "reasonable interval" in most circumstances.

If a review application is declared frivolous, vexatious or repetitious, the application will be rejected and the applicant will be notified of the reasons for the decision. The legislation does not provide any right of appeal against such a decision.

Responsible authorities

View contact information for relevant responsible authorities.

What happens if the review application is valid?

We will arrange for the display of a notice of the application for review on or adjacent to the premises, at the Civic Offices and on the public registers web page for a period of 28 days (7 days in limited circumstances), during which any responsible authority or other person may make a representation about the application.

Can representations be made to every application for review?

Yes, provided those making representations are either responsible authorities or from other persons. Representations that are irrelevant, frivolous or vexatious must be disregarded, so, on receipt, we will check that the representations can be considered. In border line cases the representations will be placed before the Licensing Sub-Committee, who may choose not to consider them.

View more information on representations.

Is a hearing always required?

Yes, the Licensing Sub Committee will need to meet even if to endorse any prior agreements made by all parties or, where no agreement has been reached, to hear the review application on merit and make any decision based on promoting the licensing objectives.

Making a decision

The Licensing Committee is made up of elected members of the council and the Licensing Sub-Committee will comprise of any 3 of those members. The Sub-Committee considers applications quasi-judicially - evidence is not heard on oath as in a court, but the sub-committee is required to determine applications in accordance with the evidence before it at the hearing.

A report and details of all representations (including names and addresses) will be considered. These reports are public documents which we are required to publish.

We will notify everyone of the date and time of the hearing and provide details of the procedure to be followed at the hearing.

At the hearing, the sub-committee may take one or more of the following steps: 

• to take no further action
• to modify the conditions of the licence
• to exclude a licensable activity from the scope of the licence
• to remove the designated premises supervisor
• to suspend the licence for a period not exceeding 3 months 
• to revoke the licence

Appeal a decision

Any party to the hearing can appeal to Lancashire Magistrates' Court within 21 days of the decision of the sub-committee. Anyone considering an appeal is strongly advised to take professional legal advice prior to commencing this potentially costly course of action.