More and more across the UK, the Licensing Authorities are carrying out compliance visits in company with other enforcement partners. This is usually coordinated by the Police Service. These Premises Inspections are usually intelligence-based i.e. somebody has told the Authorities that all is not well with a particular premises and hence they ALL visit it at the same time, in order to test for many different things simultaneously.
Examples of the Agencies involved include:
Police, Fire & Rescue Service, Trading Standards, Environmental Health, Food Safety, Housing Officers, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, Immigration Enforcement, Border Agency, – this list is not exhaustive and neither is the level of scrutiny!
Ostensibly the officers are there to give advice and will write to you after the visit to confirm changes that should be made to your operating practices to ensure that you are complying with the Law and your Licence.
In reality, though, many of these visits end with enforcement action being taken.
NB If you follow The Licensing Guys Facebook page you will see regular posts about Premises that have been raided and closed following Multi-Agency Premises Inspections. The most common reasons for Prosecutions, Reviews and Closures are:
- Counterfeit or Non-Duty Paid Tobacco seizures
- Non-Duty Paid Alcohol seizures
- Illegal Workers employed on the Premises
- Prescription medicines on sale without a prescription.
Our advice is:
- Prepare for any visit beforehand by having everything safe and legal. We can help you with that.
- Be polite and professional. The officers are simply doing their jobs.
- And lastly, but not leastly…
Unannounced Guests? Better Call Paul!
Our advice is always free.