Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

Alcohol and entertainment licences

The Licensing Act 2003 came into effect in November 2005.  It is based upon promotion of the following four Licensing objectives: 

• Preventing crime and disorder
• Prevention public nuisance
• Ensuring public safety
• Protecting children from harm.      

You will need to apply for a licence if you are involved with any licensable activities. These include: 

• Supplying or selling alcohol 
• Providing regulated public entertainment such as discos, live bands, theatres or cinemas, or the facilities to enable such entertainment
• Providing late night refreshment, including "take away" restaurants, which open after 11pm 
• Registered members' clubs.        

For information about the different alcohol and entertainment licences, including details of how to apply for them, see the following pages:

• Personal licence
• Premises licence
• Club premises licence
• Temorary events notice

For details of premises applications and variations which are currently under review and consultation please see this page: 

• Licence applications currently under review 
• Licence applications currently under consultation

The Vale's Licensing Policy

Under the Licensing Act 2003 the Council is 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, every three years. This policy will specifically relate to:

• The sale of alcohol by retail
• The supply of alcohol by or on behalf of a club to, or to the order of, a member of a club
• The provision of late night refreshment (the supply of hot food or drink between 11pm-5am
• The provision of "regulated entertainment’" which include events such as performance of a play, live music or dance.

The current policy was approved by the Council in December 2004 and came into effect in January 2005 - the policy can be downloaded from the right of the page.

This policy was reviewed in 2007 and is due to be introduced in January 2008.

If you would like more advice or information about an alcohol or entertainment licensing issue please contact the Licensing Unit using the contact details on the right.