Premises Licence – Minor Variation

A minor variation application is generally considered to be a means by which premises licence and club premises certificate holders can make minor changes to their licence or certificate without the need to complete a ‘full’ variation application.

Any change which is considered to potentially affect any of the licensing objectives cannot, by definition, be a ‘minor’ application.

The licence/certificate holder benefits from a reduced application fee on a minor application, coupled with a shorter consultation time, and there is no automatic requirement to consult responsible authorities.

Minor applications will typically be used to apply for the following:

• Minor changes to the structure or layout of premises

• small adjustments to the licensable hours

• and removal of out-of-date, or irrelevant conditions.

The legislation does not, however, allow changes to increase the hours for alcohol supply to be dealt with under a minor application.

Who can apply for a variation of a Premises Licence?

Only the person or Company who currently holds the premises licence can vary the Premises Licence.

How to apply

Before applying, please make sure you've looked at our guidance notes [PDF, 0.1MB] for submitting online applications.

Once registered, you will be able to submit your application, upload an amended plan (if applicable) and pay the application fee.

Plans

Any Minor Variation application where the applicant intends to make an alteration to the structural or internal layout of the premises MUST be accompanied by a plan of the premises. These should be provided to a scale and must be clear and legible. 

All plans need to contain the following information:

• The extent of the boundary of the building, including external and internal walls and, if different, the perimeter of the premise

• Points of access to and egress from the premise (and if different, the locations of escape routes)

• Areas of the premise used for each licensable activity

• Fixed structures (including furniture) that may inhibit the ability of persons to escape from the premise

• The location and height of stages or raised areas in the premise

• The location of steps, stair, lifts or elevators in the premise

• The location of rooms containing public conveniences in the premise

• The location and type of fire safety and other safety equipment in the premise

• Any kitchen location at the premises.

 After submission of a valid application

Following submission of your application, you must do the following and provide proof to this authority; otherwise, your application may be rejected.

You must display the Notice of Minor Variation to a Premises Licence [DOCX, 18KB] at the premises for 10 consecutive days from the day after submission.

The notice must be printed on white paper and retain the font size as per the template. It must be visible to the public without the need for the public to enter your premises, ideally in the window or front door.

You do not need to advertise this application in a local newspaper.