Return to main Advice page

Legal Eagle

Licensing

Q: Entertainment licences and Bank Holidays

What are the rules for premises with a public entertainments licence opening to the public and charging admission on a bank holiday which falls on a Sunday?

A: First of all, the licensing practice of local authorities and their attitude toward Sunday entertainment varies from one local authority to another. No distinction is made in relation to their licensing powers for Sunday entertainment and entertainment on any other day of the week, but they do have power to specify the dates and times when the licensed public entertainment may take place and to impose special conditions for Sunday entertainment. Some authorities prohibit the holding of public entertainment on Sundays unless their separate, special written consent is given. Others permit only certain types of entertainment within particular hours on a Sunday. You will need to enquire of your particular local authority about its normal policy in relation to Sunday entertainment.

However, all this is subject to the statutory restrictions on public entertainment imposed by the Sunday Observance Act 1780 (as amended) whereunder all public entertainments on a Sunday are unlawful if payment for admission is made, subject to certain express statutory exemptions. Any breach of the restriction is an offence.

It is separate and distinct from the licensing powers of the local authority, in the sense that any licence which the local authority may issue is subject to the overriding provisions of the Act. No offence under The Sunday Performance Act is committed where the entertainment is provided free of charge. The test is whether persons are admitted by the payment of money or by tickets sold for money or indirectly by increased prices being charged for refreshments by comparison with prices at which they are sold on other days of the week.

The restriction applies also where the entertainment is provided from funds given by subscribers and contributors which entitle them to tickets for admission - for example, in return for an annual fee or whatever. If admission is free of charge but a separate charge is made for reservation of a seat, that will not constitute an offence under the Act unless all the seats in the house are available on reservations fee only. The payment does not have to be made on a Sunday for the restriction to bite. It will be an offence if payment is made at any other time and relates to public entertainment which takes place on a Sunday.

There are certain important exemptions from the restriction under the Sunday Entertainments Act. The first relates to musical entertainment on a Sunday where licensed by a local authority licence, whether conditional or otherwise, the emphasis being on the word 'musical' as distinct from any other kind of entertainment. Also exempt is any musical entertainment on a Sunday for which a local authority licence is not needed for any reason.

Another exemption applies where there is a 'special hours' certificate extending a licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor beyond midnight on a Saturday into the Sunday, in which case the Sunday prohibition on public entertainment does not apply during those permitted hours whether the entertainment is musical or of any other kind. Another exemption is for public sporting events (for which nevertheless a sports entertainment licence is required).

There are no separate regulations applicable to public entertainments on a bank holiday, so if the latter falls on a Sunday the regulations relating to public entertainments on a Sunday will apply, but not otherwise.

Finally, I should mention that certain aspects of the liquor and public entertainment licensing laws are currently under review by the Government which has declared an intention of simplifying the system and has issued a consultation paper on it, so we will have to wait and see what emerges in due course.

First published January 2001