Complaints about licensed premises

We regularly inspect licensed premises to help licence-holders meet their licence conditions. 

Inspecting premises

Premises are inspected on a risk-assessed basis and as a guide our officers visit:

• alcohol-licensed premises following a complaint or a change of designated premises supervisor
• each special treatment premises once a year (apart from low-risk premises in Band A)
• shisha premises “as and when”
• a quarter of betting premises each year
• all pet shops and animal boarding establishments

Breach of premise licence conditions

When we discover breaches of licence conditions we will generally take a graduated approach in line with our enforcement policies which are available on request:

• offering advice, information and assistance
• issuing informal warnings
• issuing formal written warnings
• issuing a simple caution
• prosecuting offenders in court

Additional powers

Where we have the powers to do so we may also:

• issue a licensed premises closure notice (for premises under the Licensing Act 2003)
• require a minor variation application to be made (for premises under the Licensing Act 2003)
• apply for the licence to be renewed (for premises under the Licensing Act 2003 or Gambling Act 2005)
• impose additional licence conditions
• refuse to renew a licence
• revoke a licence

Copies of our inspection records are provided to licence-holders after each visit. Templates of our inspections checklists are available from the licensing team.