Community and Ancillary Sellers Notice (CAN)

The Deregulation Bill 2014 is currently being considered by Parliament. One of the proposals of the Bill is to reduce burdens of licensing on those who sell limited amounts of alcohol as part of a wider service i.e. ancillary sellers and for community sellers.

The CAN will be a new, light touch, low cost authorisation under the Licensing Act 2003 which will benefit some small businesses and community groups without the need of a costly application.

It is anticipated that the CAN will solve a key problem for particular businesses such as bed and breakfast providers who wish to sell limited amounts of alcohol as part of a wider service and for community groups such as voluntary groups and charities to whom the cost of multiple TEN applications or a Premises Licence is disproportionate of the low risk, low volume nature of the sales they wish to make. The CAN offers a lighter touch, cheaper alternative (lasting three years). Details on exactly who will be able to benefit from a CAN will be set out in regulations.

For a relatively low, one-off fee a CAN user will be able to sell alcohol as prescribed by the legislation over the course of three years between the hours of 7am and 11pm.

• Community group users will be able to name up to three premises at which they intend to provide alcohol at organised events, with a maximum of 300 attendees. The alcohol sold at the event must also be ancillary to the main purpose of the event. 
• Ancillary business sellers will name a single premises at which they will be making sales of alcohol. The sales must be ancillary to the goods or main service being provided and the alcohol must be consumed on the premises unless regulations provide otherwise.

Alcohol limits and circumstances of use for different groups will be set out in regulations. Other safeguards such as rights of entry to investigate problems and criminal liability of CAN users for licensing offences will also apply as they do with other alcohol authorisations. The police and EHA will be able to object to a CAN taking effect at the outset on grounds that one or more of the licensing objectives would be undermined. Licensing authorities will also have discretion to reject CANs.

In order to ‘apply' for a CAN it is proposed that the procedure will be simple, mirroring TEN applications, with the CAN user sending a "simple form" to the local licensing authority copying in the police and environmental health authority.

The following details are still to be decided:

• Exact limits on the amount of alcohol that can be served 
• Eligible business types (including the maximum size); 
• The definition of qualifying community groups; 
• The type and frequency of permitted events; and 
• Details on the fee

Secondary legislation will provide this information following further consultation. The fee for the CAN will also be subject to decisions made on locally set fees, including on any fee caps which will apply. The fee is expected to be relatively low and we would hope far less than that of a Premises Licence.

We shall of course update you on the progress of the Bill. In the meantime the full impact assessment can be viewed here.