Every five years, under the Licensing Act 2003, as Licensing Authority, we are required to produce a Statement of Licensing Policy, which sets out how we have interpreted the Act and the basis on which decisions are to be made.
Our current Policy came into effect on 9th December 2023.
The next review for this will take place in 2028. A consultation will take place between April 2028 and June 2028 to allow for comments to be made on the proposed draft version.
You can take part in this Consultation, at that time, by clicking on the related link "Your Sefton Your Say" located under related links to the right of this page.
Section 5 of the Act requires a licensing authority to prepare and publish a statement of its licensing policy every five years. Such a policy must be published before the authority carries out any of its other licensing functions under the Act. The policy must be kept under review and revised as appropriate.
The policy is a statement of how the licensing authority intends to exercise its licensing functions and must itself be prepared with a view to promoting the licensing objectives.
It may state the authority's general approach to making licensing decisions and the regulation of licensable activities. It will provide transparency for all those involved in the licensing regime, including local residents and applicants for licences, who will be able to refer to the statement when making representations or when preparing their applications.
It should also say how the authority's approach to licensing will be integrated with their planning, crime prevention, transport and cultural strategies and any action plan or strategy for the
No. Conditions attached to a premises licence have to be necessary (and not just aspirational) for the promotion of the licensing objectives and must be tailored to the individual style and characteristics of the premises and activities undertaken there. Standardised conditions should be avoided and could be unlawful.
It is however acceptable for licensing authorities to draw attention in their statements of policy to pools of conditions from which necessary and proportionate conditions may be drawn in appropriate circumstances.
Where no relevant representations are made about an application for or application to vary a premises licence, the licensing authority cannot impose any conditions other than those which are mandatory under the Act.
| Licensing Act Policy Statement 2023 |  (pdf 246KB) |