Occasional licenses
Application
Your application form must be completed and lodged 42 days before your event.
Occasional licence application form
Supplementary application information form
Occasional licence guidance notes
Once an application has been lodged, the licensing authority will advertise the application on the East Lothian Council website for seven days, and consult with Police Scotland and the Licensing Standards Officer (LSO). Any person can object to an occasional licence application during the time it is advertised and Police Scotland/the LSO have 21 days to respond to the consultation. Should there be any objections or representation, the application will be considered by the Licensing Board and conditions (in addition to the Mandatory Conditions) may be imposed on any granted application.
Current occasional licence adverts
If the application includes an outdoor area, you must send us a layout plan showing the area to be licensed.
Fees
A fee of £10 must be lodged with every occasional licence application.
Repeat applications
Repeated applications for the same premises and which are:
- Not for specific events; and/or
- For activities that have been occurring (either in identical or largely similar terms) on the premises regularly over a period of at least three months
Will not generally be considered suitable for the grant of an occasional licence and will not be granted by the Board under delegated authority, but will require to be considered by Board. It is generally expected, that the premises in question should consider an application for a Premises Licence.
The scrutiny given to an application for a Premises Licence is not available where premises operate under a series of consecutive Occasional Licenses. In the interests of securing public safety and protecting and improving public health, the Board considers that it is not appropriate for a premises to operate on a series of consecutive Occasional Licenses rather than apply for a Premises Licence. The Board will require any applicant to explain at a Hearing why an application for a Premises Licence is not being made, unless the Clerk of the Board is satisfied that there are good reasons that prevent such an application.
Voluntary Organisations
Voluntary organisations are subject to quotas. No more than:
- 4 licenses lasting more than 4 days each
- 12 licenses lasting less than 4 days in any 12 month period
Will be issued to a voluntary organisation. The total number of days operating under an occasional licence cannot exceed 56 days.
Definition of a Voluntary Organisation
A group of people who have decided to work together to accomplish a common agreed non-commercial purpose. Voluntary organisations are formally constituted, non-profit making bodies which consist of a group of volunteers who do not get paid or employ staff. The main aim of a voluntary organisation is to deliver social benefit in a variety of forms, rather than to generate profit for distribution to its members.
Occasional Licence application advertisements
East Lothian Licencing Board are required to advertise Occasional licence applications for a period of seven days. Objections or Representations can be lodged with the Licensing Authority (licensing@eastlothian.gov.uk) during the advertising period. You can find the deadline date on the advertisement.
Current occasional licence adverts
Information on objections/representations to alcohol licence applications