General Information - Temporary Event Notices (TENs)

Apply for a Temporary Event Notice

A Temporary Event Notice (TEN) is issued in order to facilitate the sale of alcohol, regulated entertainment or late night refreshments for occasional events i.e. Wedding Receptions, Birthday Parties, Barn Dances or Film presentations to mention a few. The scale of event in terms of maximum number of people attending at any one time must not exceed 499, including any staff or other personnel.

However, The Legislative Reform (Entertainment Licensing) Order 2014 came into force on 6th April 2015. There are a number of exemptions that mean a licence is no longer required. As a result of these deregulatory changes no licence is required for the following activities to the extent that they take place between 08:00-23:00 on any day:

• a performance of a play in the presence of any audience of no more than 499 people
• an indoor sporting event in the presence of any audience of no more than 1,000 people
• most performances of dance in the presence of any audience of no more than 499 people;
• exhibition of a film, where it satisfies the following:
  • for 'not-for-profit' film exhibition in a community premises,
  • in the presence of any audience of no more than 499 people;
  • the organiser obtains consent for the screening, from the person responsible for the premises;
  • the organiser ensures that each screening abides by age classification ratings;
• boxing or wrestling entertainment, for a contest, exhibition or display of Greco-Roman wrestling, or freestyle wrestling, in the presence of any audience of no more than 1,000 people
• live music, where the live music comprises:
  • a performance of unamplified live music;
  • a performance of live amplified music in a workplace with an audience of no more than 499 people;
  • a performance of live music on alcohol licensed premises which takes place in the presence of an audience of no more than 499 people, provided that a number of important conditions are satisfied;
  • a performance of live amplified music in a church hall, village hall, community hall, or other similar community premises, in the presence of an audience of no more than 499 people, with the consent of the person responsible for the premises; or
  • a performance of live amplified music at a local authority, school or a hospital with an audience of no more than 499 people with the consent of the person responsible for the relevant premises;
• recorded music recorded music comprises:
  • playing of recorded music on alcohol licensed premises which takes place in the presence of an audience of no more than 499 people;
  • playing of recorded music in a church hall, village hall, community hall, or other similar community premises, in the presence of an audience of no more than 499 people, with the consent of the person responsible for the premises;
  • playing of recorded music at a local authority, school or a hospital with an audience of no more than 499 people with the consent of the person responsible for the relevant premises;
• cross activity exemptions with no limit on audience size for:
  • any entertainment taking place on the premises of the local authority where the entertainment is provided by or on behalf of the local authority;
  • any entertainment taking place on the hospital premises of the health care provider where the entertainment is provided by or on behalf of the health care provider;
  • any entertainment taking place on the premises of the school where the entertainment is provided by or on behalf of the school proprietor; and
  • any entertainment (excluding films and a boxing or wrestling entertainment) taking place at a travelling circus, within a moveable structure that accommodates the audience and not located on the same site for more than 28 consecutive days.

A Personal Licence Holder may apply for 50 TENs (including 10 late TENS) in any calendar year and a non-personal Licence Holder may apply for 5 TENs (including 2 late TENS) in any calendar year. Late TENs count towards the total number of permitted TENs. A notice given less than ten working days before the event to which it relates, when the premises user has already given the permitted number of late TENs in that calendar year, will be returned as void. The activities described will not be authorised.

Premises can have up to 15 TENS per calendar year, to a maximum of 21 days. A TEN can run for a maximum of 168 hours, which will count as seven days against the location’s number of days per calendar year. If a TEN runs past midnight, that will count as two days. When applying for more than 1 TEN for the same premises, there must be at least 24 hours between one TEN ending and another TEN beginning.

View further guidance under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (updated December 2023).