On Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd of June the UK will enjoy a four-day bank holiday weekend to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
Being the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, major national celebrations are likely to be held across the country over the four-day holiday period. For licensed premises looking to take advantage of the opportunity for extra trade, some licensing boards have made the decision to support this by approving additional licensed hours.
The City of Glasgow Licensing Board is one of the boards that has approved a general extension of one additional licensed hour beyond the terminal hour to all licensed premises with an on-sales facility. This means licensed premises in the Glasgow area will be able to automatically remain open for the additional hour without the need for an extended hours application. Such an approach will definitely be welcomed by an industry that is still struggling to recover from the effects of the pandemic and Brexit. The full Policy can be viewed here * Festive Policy and General Extensions - Glasgow City Council.
East Dunbartonshire have taken a similar approach and agreed a general extension for all premises until 2am, 2:30am or 3am depending on your style of operation provided operators have regard to matters in their Supplementary Licensing Board Policy including late night transport arrangements for staff.
Falkirk Council have permitted a general extension on Wednesday 1st June and Thursday 2nd June 2022 for on sales premises. Such premises will be permitted to sell alcohol until 1am the following morning i.e., the morning of Thursday 2nd June and Friday 3rd June 2022.
East Lothian Council have also approved a general extension until 1am whilst Orkney Islands Council and South Lanarkshire Council have set out varying extended hours for different types of premises and on different dates during the Jubilee weekend. More Licensing Boards may follow suit so it is important to keep a close eye on announcements on Council websites.
You are still able to extend your hours if your premises is not located in one of these areas and to do so you can submit an extended hours application. The timescales vary slightly depending on the board however, as a general rule, this should be submitted to the board no later than 28 days before the event. As extended hours are available where the event relates to one of national significance it is likely that reasonable extensions will be approved despite their being no general extension in place.
Events in non-licensed Premises
If you are running a non-licensed premises and are hoping to hold a Jubilee event where alcohol will be sold, you may need to apply for an occasional licence. This could include a ticketed event where alcohol is provided as part of the ticket price but no cash bar is available.
How to apply:
- You must be either a personal license holder, a premises license holder or a voluntary organisation to make an application;
- Your application is submitted to the Licensing Board together with the fee. The application must specify what, where and when;
- Where objections or representations are received, you will need to address these either in writing or at a hearing of the Licensing Board;
- Your application will be either granted or refused and will be subject to both the mandatory conditions and any additional conditions
Where entertainment is also being provided at your event (the definition of entertainment varies across the country but can include fireworks, live music, performances etc) you should also seek advice from our expert team on whether a Temporary Public Entertainment License is also required.
