Club Premises Certificate

Print page

Qualifying members clubs
Apply for a club premises certificate
Pay the annual fee
After you apply
Appeal a decision
Variations and alterations
Commercial clubs

Qualifying members' clubs

Qualifying clubs must:-

Have at least 25 members
Not allow instant membership (members must wait at least 2 days)
Be established and conducted in good faith

Club Premises Certificates are needed for qualifying members' clubs (such as social, sports, and political clubs) to provide:

Sale/supply of alcohol
Regulated entertainment
Late night refreshment (hot food/drinks between 11pm and 5am)

Sale of alcohol

Sale of alcohol relates to guests of members.

Supply of alcohol

Supply of alcohol relates to members themselves, as technically there is no sale (as the member owns part of the alcohol stock) and the money passing across the bar is merely a mechanism to preserve equity between members where one may consume more than another. 

Regulated entertainment

Regulated entertainment includes:-

performance of a play
showing of a film 
indoor sporting events
boxing or wrestling entertainment
performance of live music 
playing of recorded music 
performance of dance

There are certain exemptions for entertainment as detailed at Appendix H of the Licensing policy. 

To discuss your specific licence needs before you apply you can use our Licensing Direct service which includes pre-application advice.

Additional conditions

Additional conditions for alcohol at qualifying clubs are:-

the purchase and supply of alcohol is managed by club members who are over 18 years of age
no person at the expense of the club receives any commission, percentage or other similar payment in regard to the purchase of alcohol
there are no arrangements for anyone to receive a financial benefit from supplying alcohol, apart from any benefit to the club as a whole or to any person indirectly from the supply giving a gain from running the club

For further information, view the legislation relating to Club Premises Certificates

A club premises certificate has effect until such time as it is suspended, withdrawn or surrendered. This means it is not time-limited unless the club asks it to be.

Apply for a club premises certificate

Complete the application form and upload the required documents listed below.

Apply for a Club Premises CertificateRequired documents

Club Premises Certificate Declaration – refer to Notes on Club Declaration
A plan must be provided in accordance with the Plan Regulations
Club rules

An operating schedule is required as part of the application form. Propose conditions to promote the licensing objectives. Example conditions are at Appendix J of the Council’s Licensing Policy

You also need to pay the application fee when you submit an application. The fee is based on the Non-Domestic Rateable Value of the premises.

Find a business rates valuation
Check the fees on our fees and charges page
Further guidance about Alcohol licensing - club premises certificates)

If you need help, please visit our Licensing Direct page.

Pay the annual fee 

A Club Premises Certificate fee is payable annually. You can make your payment online

Make an annual fee paymentWe do not issue an invoice for this. It is the club’s responsibility to ensure timely payment. We will suspend your certificate if the annual fee is not paid. 

After you apply

If your application is accepted we will contact you to confirm your application is accepted.

You will then be required to:-

place a public notice on the premises for 28 consecutive days, and 
advertise your application in the local press within 10 working days

Templates for these notices are available below, or you can get help using our Licensing Direct service

The Council will serve your application on the Responsible Authorities and publish details on our  list of current premises licence applications

There will be a 28-day consultation period during which Responsible Authorities and members of the public can make representations.

At the end of the consultation period, the licensing team will inform you if there have been any representations. If there have been no representations your certificate will be granted as applied for.

If representations are received the licensing team will inform you by email. If a solution is not agreed the application will be referred to the Licensing Act sub-committee to determine.

The sub-committee will meet within 20 working days of the end of the consultation period to consider the application.

Appeal a decision 

All parties have the right of appeal. Appeals can be made against new, variation and review applications. The appeal must be lodged at the local Magistrates' Court within 21 days.

Variations and alterations

You can also apply online for the following:-

Alterations to the rules

If there are any alterations to the rules or name of the club, the club secretary must give details to the licensing authority: