Licensed Premises Policies and Procedures

Complete Licensing drafts, reviews and helps implement bespoke policies and procedures for licensed premises in England and Wales. We create practical documents that your managers, bar staff and security teams can actually follow during a live shift.

Licensing policies are no good if they sit in a folder on someone’s desk in the back office. A good licensing policy translates your premises licence, operating schedule and real operating risks into clear procedures your managers, bar staff, security teams and contractors can follow during a live shift.

Complete Licensing supports pubs, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, off-licences, convenience stores, theatres, entertainment venues, festivals, events and multi-site hospitality groups.

Need a policy for a premises licence application, inspection, police meeting or licence review? Tell us the premises, the deadline and the issue you need to address.

Request a policy-review call-back or call about an urgent policy requirement.

What should a licensed premises policy achieve?

A licensed premises policy explains exactly how your business will manage a particular responsibility or risk. It enables you to turn licence conditions into instructions, policies and procedures that staff can follow during a live shift.

An effective policy should answer five practical questions:

who is responsible;
what they must do;
when they must escalate a concern;
what record must be made; and
how management will check that the procedure is being followed.

Where a policy is being relied upon for Licensing Act purposes, it should support one or more of the four licensing objectives under the Licensing Act 2003:

the prevention of crime and disorder;
public safety;
the prevention of public nuisance; and
the protection of children from harm.

A well-designed policy can demonstrate responsible management and support an application, variation, inspection, authority meeting or remedial action plan. However, it cannot guarantee a particular licensing outcome and must be properly implemented to be effective.

Is a policy the same as a premises licence condition?

A policy normally explains how your business intends to operate. On the other hand, a premises licence condition is a binding requirement on your licence. Measures proposed in an operating schedule may become licence conditions if the licence is granted.

The distinction between the two matters. The statutory section 182 Guidance states that licence conditions should be clear, precise, enforceable, proportionate and tailored to the individual premises. We help operators describe workable controls without confusing internal good practice with a permanent legal restriction.

Policies and procedures we prepare

Not every premises needs every policy. The right policy pack depends on your premises, licensable activities, operating model, premises licence, local Statement of Licensing Policy, locality and evidence of actual risk.

Our licensed premises policy drafting and review service can include the following:

Operating schedules and premises management plans

We can draft or review a premises licence operating schedule and the operational controls supporting a new application, a premises licence variation or ongoing compliance, including:

operating schedule measures;
a premises licence conditions checklist or compliance manual;
management responsibilities and escalation routes;
DPS handover and management procedures;
opening, trading, handover and close-down routines;
incident notification and management review arrangements; and
a group policy supported by a venue-specific schedule.

For new premises licence applications and changes to an existing premises licence, the wording should be specific enough to give the authority confidence but practical enough to work after the licence is granted.

Crime and disorder policies for licensed premises

Crime and disorder policies may cover:

risk-based door supervisor deployment;
admission, queue, search, refusal, ejection and readmission procedures;
drugs, weapons and corrosive substance controls;
drink spiking prevention, welfare response and evidence preservation;
CCTV operation, routine checks and lawful disclosure;
incident reporting, escalation and police liaison;
management of drunkenness, disorder and aggressive behaviour; and
major incident response and post incident review.

Searches, refusals and interventions must be lawful, safe and appropriate to the venue. A policy should not give staff powers they do not have or require a single response regardless of the circumstances.

Age-verification and Challenge 25 policies

Premises authorised to sell or supply alcohol must operate an age-verification policy under the mandatory licensing conditions. We can prepare or review:

Challenge 25 or another agreed age-verification scheme;
acceptable identification and age-checking procedures;
refusals, proxy sales and attempted purchase records;
till prompts and management checks;
remote and delivery-sale age verification where relevant;
staff training, supervision and competency checks;
child safeguarding procedures; and
controls for age-restricted entertainment or activities.

Challenge 25 is widely used good practice, but the precise requirement depends on the mandatory conditions, premises licence and any additional local condition.

Read our Challenge 25 guide.

Customer welfare, vulnerability and safeguarding

Welfare procedures help staff recognise a person who may be intoxicated, separated from friends, harassed, exploited, unwell or otherwise vulnerable. Depending on the venue, a policy may include:

early identification and respectful intervention;
a safe place and a clear route to medical help;
suspected spiking response and evidence preservation;
Ask for Angela or another discreet help scheme;
sexual harassment and assault response;
safe refusals, ejections and arrangements for getting home;
first-aid and emergency-service escalation;
safeguarding responsibilities and information sharing; and
recording, management review and staff debriefing.

Welfare is not a separate fifth licensing objective. The measures should be connected to the relevant licensing objectives and to the venue’s wider safeguarding, health and safety and emergency arrangements.

Read about WAVE welfare training and Ask for Angela in practice.

Noise-management and dispersal policies

We can prepare a site-specific noise management plan alongside the dispersal and public nuisance procedures required for the premises.

Documents may cover:

amplified music and sound-management controls;
noise limiter and entertainment checks;
customer noise in queues, gardens, smoking areas and other outside spaces;
dispersal at the end of trading or after an event;
taxi, private-hire, public-transport and pick-up arrangements;
deliveries, waste, bottle disposal, collections and external cleaning;
lighting, odour, litter and street fouling;
noise patrols and management records;
neighbour contact, complaint handling and escalation; and
outdoor events, temporary structures and temporary activities.

A dispersal policy should reflect the exits, transport options, local residents, closing pattern and matters within the operator’s control. It should not make unrealistic promises about customers after they have left the premises and its immediate vicinity.

Read our guide to preventing public nuisance, download the public-nuisance self-assessment checklist or explore our acoustic and noise-management expertise.

Public safety, capacity and emergency procedures

Depending on the instruction, we can help develop:

capacity and occupancy-control procedures;
queue, entrance, exit and customer-flow arrangements;
crowd management and event-day controls;
first-aid, accident and emergency response procedures;
evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and emergency communication arrangements;
major-incident response, preservation of potential evidence and prompt police liaison;
contractor, delivery and back-of-house controls;
outside-area, smoking-area and shisha procedures; and
opening, closing and safety checklists.

Licensing policies do not replace the separate fire, health and safety, data-protection or other assessments required by law. Where specialist assessment is needed, we identify it and can work alongside an appropriately qualified adviser.

Policy packs for festivals and licensed events

For festivals and major events, a complete management system may include:

an event management plan;
event-specific risk and security assessments;
an alcohol and age-verification plan;
a crowd and capacity management plan;
a traffic, taxi and transport plan;
noise, waste and neighbour-management arrangements;
safeguarding and welfare procedures;
contractor and trader requirements;
emergency and major-incident procedures; and
command, communication, recording and post-event review arrangements.

These documents should work together. Conflicting responsibilities, outdated maps or different versions in circulation can create avoidable risk even when each document looks reasonable in isolation.

Counter-terrorism procedures and Martyn’s Law readiness

Some venues and events already maintain public-protection procedures as good practice or under existing licensing, safety or event-management arrangements. Martyn’s Law will introduce additional statutory duties for qualifying premises and events when its substantive provisions come into force.

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, commonly known as Martyn’s Law, has received Royal Assent. The Security Industry Authority currently expects this to come into force in spring 2027. Coverage and duties will depend on the legislation, regulations and the number of people reasonably expected to be present, not simply the capacity printed on a premises licence.

We can help a business review its current procedures and prepare for the new regime without presenting future duties as if they already apply. The Government’s Martyn’s Law guidance and the SIA’s explanation of its regulatory role should be checked again before publication or implementation.

Multi-site group policies with venue-specific schedules

A group needs consistency, but identical wording can hide important local differences. Complete Licensing can build a central policy framework with a schedule for each venue recording matters such as:

the licence number, premises licence holder and designated premises supervisor;
authorised activities, hours and key conditions;
capacity, layout, entrances, exits and customer profile;
children, outside areas, smoking or shisha arrangements;
noise-sensitive neighbours and complaint routes;
local authority or police contacts;
security arrangements and risk-based deployment; and
site-specific exceptions, controls and review actions.

This structure gives managers a common standard while keeping the operational detail connected to each premises licence and locality.

More than policy wording: the operational documents behind it

A licensing policy is only useful when the people responsible for upholding it understand it and can demonstrate that it is being followed. Depending on the scope, we can prepare or review:

licensing-, venue- and event-specific risk-assessment forms;
licence-condition, opening, close-down, CCTV and security checks;
incident, refusal, search, ejection and welfare records;
noise, litter, external-area patrol and resident-complaint records;
training, competency and policy-acknowledgement records; and
handover checklists, review records and version control.

Some of these are policies; others are risk assessments, plans, registers, logs or checklists. We label each document accurately and design the pack so staff can find the right instruction and record at the point they need it.

The aim is an operating system, not paperwork for a shelf.

How our licensed premises policy service works

1. Scope the operation and the immediate issue

We establish what the premises does, who will use the document, why it is needed and when it must be ready. If the instruction follows an incident, complaint or authority concern, we identify the urgent remedial actions as well as the drafting task.

2. Review the licence and operation

We examine the current premises licence and conditions, plan, operating schedule, relevant local licensing policy, existing procedures and records. Depending on the matter, we may also review authority correspondence, representations, incident material, complaints, CCTV information or previous action plans.

We speak to the operator and relevant managers. A site visit may be recommended where the layout, outside areas, customer flow, noise sensitivity, security deployment or actual working practice cannot be understood reliably from documents alone.

3. Draft a tailored, usable document

The draft sets out responsibilities, day-to-day procedure, escalation, record keeping, management assurance and review triggers. We remove generic material that does not apply and avoid commitments that staff cannot realistically deliver.

4. Test the policy with the people who will use it

We can refine the draft with the premises licence holder, DPS, managers, security provider and other relevant specialists. Where appropriate and authorised, it can also support constructive discussion with a responsible authority or the operator’s solicitor.

5. Implement, evidence and review

We can help turn the final policy into briefing material, training records, logs, checklists and management audits. A review date is agreed, with additional reviews triggered by serious incidents, enforcement visits, complaint patterns, changes in layout or operation, or new legal requirements.

Policy work may form part of ongoing licensing compliance, an urgent response to a premises licence review, or a remedial package assessed through licensing expert reports and hearing evidence.

Case study: operational and compliance planning for Epping Playhouse

At Epping Playhouse, Complete Licensing examined the operation’s security, safeguarding, licence compliance and venue management, then prepared a comprehensive council consultation document covering entrance checks, capacity, incident recording and safety training.

The public project shows how operational controls, records and checks can be brought together around a live venue, rather than treated as unrelated paperwork.

Read the Epping Playhouse case study

Why choose Complete Licensing?

Our licensed premises policies and procedures are informed by practical licensing, compliance, policing, security, environmental health, venue safety and event specialists to ensure the policy is as strong as possible.

Our practical experience helps us:

connect each document to the premises licence and licensing objectives;
recognise the questions a responsible authority is likely to ask;
distinguish a policy from a risk assessment, management plan, record or licence condition;
make responsibilities and escalation clear to staff;
design evidence that managers can check and retrieve;
combine group standards with genuine site-specific controls; and
support the same operator through an application, compliance concern or hearing.

We can work directly with an operator or alongside its licensing consultant, solicitor or barrister. Complete Licensing is not a law firm and does not conduct reserved legal activities. Where legal advice, conduct of litigation or court advocacy is required, the operator should instruct an appropriately authorised legal professional.

Meet our licensing and compliance specialists

Licensed premises policy questions and answers

Which policies does a licensed premises legally need?

There is no single policy list that applies to every licensed premises. The mandatory licensing conditions require an age-verification policy where alcohol is sold or supplied. Other written documents may be required by a premises licence condition or an operating-schedule commitment. Further policies may be proportionate good practice because of the venue’s activities and risks without being universal statutory requirements. Separate fire, health and safety, employment, safeguarding and data-protection duties may also require assessments or procedures outside the Licensing Act regime.

We start with the licence and operation, then identify what is mandatory, what is proportionate good practice and what is unnecessary.

Is a Challenge 25 policy compulsory?

An age-verification policy is compulsory for premises authorised to sell or supply alcohol. Challenge 25 is a commonly adopted scheme and may also be required by a premises licence condition, but it is not the only age-verification approach permitted by the mandatory condition. The statutory policy must require qualifying photographic identification from anyone who appears to be under 18, and relevant staff must be aware of and apply it. Training and refusal records are recommended good practice and may also be required by a premises licence condition.

Can you review an existing or template policy?

Yes. We can review one document or a complete pack against the current licence, operation, locality and working practice. A template may be a useful starting point, but it cannot know the venue’s conditions, layout, risks, neighbours or staff structure. We identify outdated references, contradictions, missing responsibilities, impractical commitments and gaps in implementation records.

What should a dispersal policy include?

A dispersal policy normally addresses closing arrangements, phased or managed departure where appropriate, door and management responsibilities, announcements, lighting, taxi and public-transport information, queue and pick-up arrangements, smoking or outside areas, litter checks, noise monitoring and incident recording. The detail must reflect the premises and the immediate locality.

Can you draft an operating schedule for a premises licence application?

Yes. Complete Licensing can help prepare operating-schedule measures for a new application or variation and develop the policies that explain how those measures will work. Any proposed condition should be precise, proportionate and realistic because accepted operating-schedule measures may become binding licence conditions.

Can a revised policy help after a police or council concern?

It can help if it addresses the evidence and is implemented. We may recommend a licence compliance review, site visit, updated risk assessment, staff briefing, new records and management checks alongside the policy. A rewritten document alone does not guarantee that an authority will withdraw its concern.

Can you create policies for a group of venues?

Yes. A group policy can set common standards, responsibilities and records, with a controlled schedule for each site. The venue schedule captures local conditions, hours, layout, outside areas, customer profile, authority contacts and other differences that should not be buried in generic wording.

How often should licensing policies be reviewed?

There is no universal review period for every policy. The cycle should reflect the subject and risk. In addition to a scheduled review, documents should be reconsidered after a serious incident, test-purchase failure, enforcement visit, complaint trend, change of operator or DPS, change in layout or activity, new licence condition, or relevant change in law or guidance.

Do staff need training on the policies?

A policy is useful only if the relevant people understand their responsibilities. Training may range from a manager briefing and signed acknowledgement to scenario-based welfare, age-verification, incident, security or emergency training. The appropriate records should show who was trained, on what, by whom and when refresher training is due.

How quickly can you prepare a policy, and what will it cost?

Timing and fees depend on the number and complexity of documents, the existing material, the need for a site visit or specialist input, and the deadline. Tell us immediately if the work is for an authority meeting, hearing or event. After an initial review, we provide a written scope and fee showing which documents, meetings and revisions are included.