Apply for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN)

A Temporary Event Notice (TEN) gives you permission to conduct licensable activities for a limited time. This includes:

• selling alcohol
• serving alcohol to members of a private club
• providing entertainment, such as music, dancing or indoor sporting events
• serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am

There are two types of notice: standard and late. Late notices should only be used in exceptional circumstances.

Who can apply

You must be:

• Over 18
• An individual, not an organisation

You do not need a personal licence, but if you don’t have one you can apply for fewer notices than licence holders.

Restrictions

Your event must:

• have no more than 499 people at any one time – including staff running the event
• last no more than 7 days (168 hours), and
• have a minimum of 24 hours between your event and the start or finish of another TEN

If your event does not meet these criteria, please contact us at least 6 months beforehand.

Number of notices

A premises can have up to 15 TENs per year if the total length of all events isn't more than 21 days.

The maximum number of notices you can apply for is:

• 5 TENs per year (with up to 2 late notices) if you do not hold a personal licence
• 50 TENs (with up to 10 late notices) if you hold a personal licence

If your event is on land owned by us

A TEN does not give you the right to hold an event on land owned by us. If you want to use land owned by us, you need to apply for permission before applying for a TEN. Apply to hold an event on Council land.

If you need planning permission

A TEN does not give you planning permission. Check if you need planning permission for your event site.

Fees

Each notice costs £21.

How to apply

You need a notice for each event held on the same premises.

You must give:

• at least 10 working days' notice for a standard notice, or
• between 5 and 9 working days' notice for a late notice.

We advise submitting a notice at least 15 working days before your event.

Notice does not include:

• the day we receive the notice
• the day of the event
• any weekends or bank holidays.

Information you need to provide

When applying for a TEN you will need:

• your details, including:
  • national insurance number
  • personal licence number, if applicable
• a clear description or plan of the area
• an Ordnance Survey reference if the venue does not have an address
• premises licence or club premises certificate number, if applicable

Once you have this information, you will need to register or log in to our customer portal to apply online. You may wish to open the application guidance notes so you can refer to them when you apply.

If you have already started an application and need to complete it, log in to My Torbay and choose ‘pending forms’ from the menu.

Help with your application

If you need help or guidance, you can request a pre-application advice appointment.

What happens next

We will send a copy of the application to the police and environmental health for their comments.

Objections

Objections can only be received from police and environmental health and not members of the public. They can only object if they think your event could:

• lead to crime and disorder
• cause a public nuisance
• be a threat to public safety
• put children at risk of harm

If there’s an objection, the licensing committee will hold a meeting (called a ‘hearing’). This will be no later than 24 hours before the event (unless all parties agree that a hearing is not needed).

At the hearing, the committee will either approve, add conditions or reject the notice.

If the police or environmental health object to a late TEN, the notice will not be valid, and you cannot hold the event.

Appeals

If you disagree with the licensing committee’s decision, you can appeal to your local magistrates’ court. You must do this within 21 days, and at least 5 working days before the date of your event.

You will not be able to appeal a decision made for a late notice.