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Which licence does a pub need for this? Four questions on events, music, TV and pavement tables
Four questions on a late event, music, a television or pavement tables, ending in one of eight outcomes with the fee, the deadline and the rule for each.
A pub, restaurant or cafe answers to several licensing bodies at once: the council under the Licensing Act 2003, PPL PRS for the music, TV Licensing for live television and, in England, the council again for furniture on the pavement. This questionnaire is for the owner or manager who knows what they want to do, such as a late party, a band, a screen for the match or tables outside, and needs to know which permission it takes. It asks up to three questions and gives one outcome with the fee, the deadline and the rule. The Licensing Act outcomes apply in England and Wales. The figures are as we read them on official pages on 2 October 2026. Nothing you choose leaves the page.
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Which licence, notice or permission does this need
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The outcome is the rule as our guides and the sources named set it out, applied to the answers you gave. It is not advice on your own case.
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The questions, and why each is asked
1. What do you want the venue to do that it does not do now? Four regimes cover a venue: the Licensing Act 2003 for alcohol, late food and entertainment, PPL PRS for music copyright, TV Licensing for live television, and the pavement licence for furniture on the highway. The activity decides which one applies.
2. Does the music stay inside all three limits: 8am to 11pm, 500 people or fewer, and an alcohol on-licence? GOV.UK says no licence is required for live or recorded music that takes place between 8am and 11pm, at premises licensed to sell alcohol for drinking there, to an audience of no more than 500. Outside those limits a licence may be required. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.
3. Which of these describes the event or the change? A Temporary Event Notice covers fewer than 500 people, staff included, for no more than 168 hours. One premises may have 15 notices covering no more than 21 days in a year, and an event that passes midnight uses two of those days. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.
4. How many clear working days are there between today and the event? Clear working days leave out the day the council receives the notice and the day of the event, and a working day is not a Saturday, a Sunday or a bank holiday. A standard notice needs 10 and a late notice 5 to 9. This question appears only when an earlier answer makes it relevant.
Every outcome, and the rule behind it
TheMusicLicence, and no permission from the council
Reached when: "What do you want the venue to do that it does not do now?" answered "Play recorded music or put on live music"; "Does the music stay inside all three limits: 8am to 11pm, 500 people or fewer, and an alcohol on-licence?" answered "Yes, all three".
On premises licensed to sell alcohol for drinking there, live or recorded music between 8am and 11pm to an audience of no more than 500 needs no licence under the Licensing Act 2003. The copyright licence is separate: PPL PRS charges for TheMusicLicence whatever the hour. Its own example for a pub or bar playing a radio in an area of 400 square metres or less is £364.62 a year plus VAT, and live music to up to 100 people is £14.64 an event plus VAT.
- Ask PPL PRS for a quote before the first night, and list each radio, screen, quiz night and live event.
- Keep the music inside 8am to 11pm: a set that runs past 11pm may need to be on the premises licence.
- Note the audience size for a big night, since the limit is 500 people.
Source: GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing; PPL PRS, Music licence cost, and Pubs and bars; read 2 October 2026. The working is in How much does a music licence cost for a pub in 2026? The PPL and PRS tariff lines, added up for one pub's year.
TheMusicLicence, and the council's permission for the music as well
Reached when: "What do you want the venue to do that it does not do now?" answered "Play recorded music or put on live music".
Music after 11pm or before 8am, music to more than 500 people, and recorded music on premises with no alcohol on-licence fall outside the exemption and may need a licence under the Licensing Act 2003. The music must then be listed on the premises licence, or covered by a Temporary Event Notice at £21 an event. GOV.UK names two exemptions that still apply: unamplified live music anywhere between 8am and 11pm, and music that is incidental to another activity. TheMusicLicence from PPL PRS is needed in every case.
- Read the premises licence: if it already lists live or recorded music for those hours, the council needs nothing more.
- For an occasional late night, give a Temporary Event Notice at least 10 clear working days ahead.
- Ask PPL PRS to quote for the events; its example is £14.64 plus VAT for live music to up to 100 people.
Source: GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing, and Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales); PPL PRS, Pubs and bars; read 2 October 2026. The working is in Temporary Event Notice for a pub.
A TV Licence for live television, and usually TheMusicLicence too
Reached when: "What do you want the venue to do that it does not do now?" answered "Show television or sport on a screen".
A venue needs a TV Licence, £180 a year for a home or a business, to watch or record live television; GOV.UK gives the fine for doing so without one as up to £1,000. Streaming and on-demand services such as Netflix need none, though BBC iPlayer does. The council's entertainment rules exempt television broadcasts, so no premises licence entry is needed for the screen itself. PPL PRS says sports programmes carry music in their titles and adverts, so a venue showing them will usually need TheMusicLicence as well.
- List every screen and what it shows: live channels, iPlayer or on demand only.
- Buy one licence for each address; a single licence covers up to 15 guest rooms in an inn or hotel.
- Add the television to the PPL PRS quote, and say which channels it shows.
Source: GOV.UK, TV Licence; GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing; PPL PRS, Pubs and bars; read 2 October 2026. The working is in Do pubs need a TV licence? What the £180 covers, when a screen needs none, and the rule for an inn with rooms.
A pavement licence from the council, in England
Reached when: "What do you want the venue to do that it does not do now?" answered "Put tables and chairs on the pavement".
In England a business that sells food or drink can apply to its council for a pavement licence under the Business and Planning Act 2020, made permanent from 31 March 2024, to put removable tables and chairs on the highway beside its premises. The fee is capped at £500 for a first application and £350 for a renewal. The council has 14 days to consult and 14 more to decide, and if it does not decide in time the licence is deemed granted for two years. Furniture fixed to the ground needs permission under the Highways Act 1980 instead.
- Apply to the council with a plan of the area, and fix the notice to the premises on the day you apply.
- A pavement licence does not permit alcohol sales: check that the premises licence covers the outside tables.
- Provide some seating where smoking is not allowed, a condition of every pavement licence.
Source: GOV.UK, Pavement licences: guidance (published 2 April 2024, applies to England), read 2 October 2026.
A temporary notice will not cover it: vary the premises licence
Reached when: "Which of these describes the event or the change?" answered "A one-off, but the premises has used 15 notices or 21 days this year", "An event for 500 people or more, or one longer than 7 days" or "A permanent change, such as a later closing time every week".
A Temporary Event Notice covers fewer than 500 people for no more than 168 hours, and one premises may have 15 notices covering 21 days in a year. A permanent change, a bigger event or a premises that has used its limit needs the premises licence itself to allow the activity. Longer alcohol hours take a full variation at the band fee, £100 to £635 by rateable value, or up to £1,905 for a large venue used mainly for drinking. A minor variation, £89, cannot add alcohol hours or any supply of alcohol between 11pm and 7am.
- Ask the council's licensing team whether the change is a minor or a full variation before paying.
- If the yearly limit is the problem, check the count: the 15 notices and 21 days start afresh each calendar year.
- For 500 people or more, the event must fit the premises licence as it stands or as varied.
Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales); GOV.UK, Alcohol licensing fee levels; Licensing Act 2003, section 41A; read 2 October 2026. The working is in How much is a premises licence? The five fee bands for a pub or restaurant, the annual fee and the suspension rule.
Too late for any notice: keep to the licence for this event
Reached when: "How many clear working days are there between today and the event?" answered "Fewer than 5".
A standard Temporary Event Notice must reach the council at least 10 clear working days before the event, and a late notice no later than 5 clear working days before. With fewer than 5 there is no notice left to give. Clear working days leave out the day the council receives the notice and the day of the event. GOV.UK gives the penalty for carrying on a licensable activity without a notice or a licence that covers it as a fine, up to 6 months in prison, or both.
- Run the event inside the hours, area and activities on the premises licence, or move the date.
- Tell the customer today if the booking depended on a later finish.
- Put next year's fixed dates in the diary now, with each notice date worked back.
Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales), read 2 October 2026. The working is in Christmas and New Year 2026 for a pub or restaurant.
A late Temporary Event Notice, £21, with no hearing if anyone objects
Reached when: "How many clear working days are there between today and the event?" answered "5 to 9".
With 5 to 9 clear working days left, only a late Temporary Event Notice can be given. The fee is the same £21. A person without a personal licence may give 2 late notices a year and a personal licence holder 10, and they count towards the yearly totals of 5 and 50. If the police or environmental health object to a late notice, it is not valid and the event cannot go ahead. There is no hearing, as there would be for a standard notice.
- Give the notice today, online if the council offers it, so that the police and environmental health are told for you.
- Plan a version of the event that fits inside the normal licence hours, in case of an objection.
- Check how many late notices the person signing has already given this year.
Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales), read 2 October 2026. The working is in Temporary Event Notice for a pub.
A standard Temporary Event Notice, £21, given to the council
Reached when: any other set of answers.
A one-off event with fewer than 500 people, lasting no more than 168 hours, is covered by a Temporary Event Notice. It costs £21 and must reach the council at least 10 clear working days before the event. Only an individual aged 18 or over can give one. The police and environmental health have 3 working days to object, on four grounds, and the council then holds a hearing. An event that runs past midnight uses two of the 21 days a premises is allowed in a year.
- Work back 10 clear working days from the event, then give the notice a week earlier than that.
- Apply through the council and pay £21; on paper, send copies to the police and environmental health yourself.
- Keep the notice at the premises during the event and display a copy where it can be seen.
Source: GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales), read 2 October 2026. The working is in Temporary Event Notice for a pub.
How to use the result
Use it before the booking is confirmed, not after. If the outcome is a notice, work the last date back from the event and put it in the diary with the fee. If it is a variation, speak to the council's licensing team before applying, because they decide whether a change is minor. One plan can need more than one outcome: a late band night with the match on a screen is three separate things, so run the questions once for each. Run them again each January, when the yearly limits on temporary notices start afresh.
The outcome applies the rule to the answers given; it cannot see the facts behind them. Where an answer is a judgement, or the facts are unusual, the outcome may not fit. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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Where this comes from: GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing; PPL PRS, Music licence cost, and Pubs and bars; read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing, and Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales); PPL PRS, Pubs and bars; read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, TV Licence; GOV.UK, Entertainment licensing; PPL PRS, Pubs and bars; read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Pavement licences: guidance (published 2 April 2024, applies to England), read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales); GOV.UK, Alcohol licensing fee levels; Licensing Act 2003, section 41A; read 2 October 2026; GOV.UK, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales), read 2 October 2026; each outcome names its source, and the linked guide shows the working.
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