Alcohol Licensing (Operating Schedules)

Overview

Draft Operating Schedules for UK Premises Licence applications under the Licensing Act 2003. The skill structures the draft around mandatory content (licensable activities, times, opening hours, premises description, alcohol supply and DPS where applicable) and the four licensing objectives: Prevention of crime and disorder, Public safety, Prevention of public nuisance, and Protection of children from harm. It works alongside licensing_objective_aligner for application coherence and blue_notice_generator for the statutory public notice wording.

Getting Started

Add your premises details and any existing draft to the project workspace, then activate the Alcohol Licensing (Operating Schedules) skill. The agent will draft or update the schedule and run validate_operating_schedule to check for missing sections or objectives before submission.

Example conversation

Session where the user asks for an operating schedule for a new restaurant and then runs validation before submission.

You: We’re applying for a new Premises Licence for a restaurant with alcohol on-sales. Draft an operating schedule — we’re open Mon–Sun 12:00–23:00, alcohol with meals only, capacity 80. No late-night refreshment.

Agent: I’ve created operating-schedule.md with the mandatory sections: licensable activities (sale of alcohol for consumption on the premises, with table meals), times (12:00–23:00 daily), opening times (same), premises description (ground-floor restaurant, single area for dining and bar), and Designated Premises Supervisor to be confirmed. The “Steps to promote licensing objectives” section is structured under the four objectives — CCTV, incident log, Challenge 25, noise and dispersal, capacity and fire safety. I’ve left the DPS name and address as placeholders for you to fill.

You: Run the validator on it and fix anything missing.

Agent: I ran validate_operating_schedule on operating-schedule.md. Result: all required section themes are present, and all four licensing objectives are covered. No missing items. The report did note that alcohol is mentioned — ensure the DPS name and address are filled in before submission. I’ve added a short note at the top of the document reminding you to insert the DPS details.

Excerpt of a generated document

Sample “Steps to promote licensing objectives” section from an operating schedule produced with the skill (restaurant, alcohol on-sales).

## Steps to promote the licensing objectives

### Prevention of crime and disorder
- CCTV covering entrance, bar and till areas; images retained for 28 days and made available to police on request.
- Incident log kept at the premises, recording date, time, nature of incident and action taken.
- Staff trained on refusal of service and when to call police; no drinks promotions that encourage rapid consumption.

### Public safety
- Maximum capacity 80; displayed at entrance; no admittance above capacity.
- Fire risk assessment in place; fire exits clearly signed and kept unobstructed; evacuation procedure communicated to staff.
- First-aid kit and trained first-aider on duty during opening hours.

### Prevention of public nuisance
- Windows and doors kept closed after 21:00 where practicable; no music or amplified sound after 22:00.
- Dispersal policy: staff will encourage customers to leave quietly and not congregate outside.
- Designated smoking area to the rear; no drinking outside after 22:00.

### Protection of children from harm
- Challenge 25 in operation; photo ID required for anyone who appears under 25.
- Children welcome when accompanied by an adult until 21:00; no unsupervised under-18s at the bar.
- Refusal log and training records maintained for age-verification and safeguarding.