UK Offence Report

Advertisement of applications: minor variations

regulation 26A(2)(b)(vi) of The Licensing Act 2003 (Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2009

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

vi that it is an offence knowingly or recklessly to make

a false statement in connection with an application and the maximum fine for which

a person is liable on summary conviction for the offence;

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
making a false or misleading statement
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (knowingly, knowingly or recklessly, recklessly).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: knowingly, recklessly, knowingly or recklessly.

What would breach regulation 26A(2)(b)(vi)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Entering a figure on a form or return that is known to be wrong under the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2009.
  2. Leaving out something the form asks for, where the omission is what makes the answer misleading.
  3. Producing a document to an official that has been altered since it was issued.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
6 July 2009
In force from
29 July 2009
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations amend the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/42), the Licensing Act 2003 (Licensing authority’s register) (Other information) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/43) and the Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/79). The purpose of the amendments is to prescribe the forms, advertising requirements, fees and content of a licensing authority’s register in relation to minor variations of premises licences and club premises certificates under the Licensing Act 2003 (c. 17), and to prescribe the forms etc. and fees in relation to applications from community premises for inclusion of alternative mandatory conditions in their licences as regards the supervision of alcohol sales. The minor variations process was introduced into the 2003 Act by the Legislative Reform (Minor Variations to Premises Licences and Club Premises Certificates) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1772). The purpose of the process is to enable premises licences and club premises certificates to be varied by means of a less costly and less time-consuming procedure where the variations proposed could not have any adverse effect upon the promotion of any of the four licensing objectives set out in section 4 of the 2003 Act (the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm). The availability of alternative mandatory licence conditions for community premises was introduced into the Act by the Legislative Reform (Supervision of Alcohol Sales in Church and Village Halls &c.) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/1724). The alternative conditions omit the requirement for a designated premises supervisor, and instead require that the management committee of the community premises be responsible for the supervision of alcohol sales from those premises. The application form for the inclusion of the alternative licence condition is set out in a new Schedule 4A to the Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and club premises certificates) Regulations 2005 (“the 2005 Regulations”). The application form for the minor variations process is set out in a new Schedule 4B to the 2005 Regulations. Those Regulations are also amended so as to remove the requirement that relevant representations from responsible authorities (as defined in sections 13(4) and 69(4) of the 2003 Act) in response to minor variation applications must be in writing, and to exclude the general time limits for representations in relation to such applications. (The relevant time limits for minor variations are contained in the 2003 Act as amended). The advertising requirements for minor variation applications are set out in a new regulation 26A inserted into the 2005 Regulations. The applicant is required to display a white A4-sized notice at the premises containing the information set out in regulation 26A(2)(b) for a period of ten working days following the day on which the application is given to the relevant licensing authority. The Licensing Act 2003 (Licensing authority’s register)(other information) Regulations 2005 are amended so as to require details of proposed minor variations to be included in a licensing authority’s register maintained pursuant to section 8 of the 2003 Act. The Licensing Act 2003 (Fees) Regulations 2005 are amended to introduce an application fee in respect of minor variations of premises licences and club premises certificates: the fee is set at £89 in each case. Those Regulations are also amended to introduce a fee of £23 in respect of an application to vary a premises licence to include the alternative licence condition, where the only variation sought in the application is to include that condition. There is no change in the fee payable where an application to include the alternative licence condition is included in an application for a premises licence, or as part of an application to vary such a licence in which other variations are sought. An Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of the Legislative Reform Orders cited above, which includes the impact of these Regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.90.

Basis
the provision says “it is an offence”; the provision says an offence is committed “if” something happens; the provision states liability on summary conviction
Confidence
0.90 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source