The Licensing Act 2003.
The Act covers:
The sale of alcohol by retail
The supply of alcohol (in relation to members of a registered club or miners' institute or similar)
The provision of regulated entertainment (plays, films, indoor sporting events, boxing or wrestling events, live music, recorded music & performance of dance)
The provision of late night refreshment (This would apply to premises open after 11pm who provide late night refreshment, that is hot food or hot drink, for consumption on or off the premises, so it would include a fish and chip shop, a kebab house, a Chinese or Indian takeaway, a hot dog seller etc.)
The Act introduces the concept of a premise licence and a personal licence. All applications for either a premises licence, a club premises certificate or a personal licence must show how they will promote the Licensing Objectives, which are: -
Any premises where the owner intends to sell or supply alcohol or provide regulated entertainment or provide late night refreshment must have a premise licence. The premises licence holder must name a Designated Premise Supervisor (who must hold a personal licence) if the application includes the sale of alcohol.
(See also - Designated Public Place Orders)
The Licensing Act 2003 will introduce a light touch system of permitted temporary activities to replace the existing occasional licences and occasional permissions currently granted in connection with short-term alcohol and public entertainment licensing. The system involves an event organiser (the "premises user") giving a temporary event notice (TEN) to the licensing authority and copying this to the police.
Further information and application forms can be found on the Department of Culture, Media & Sport website.