Licensing Act 2003

Licensing Act 2003[1]
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to make provision about the regulation of the sale and supply of alcohol, the provision of entertainment and the provision of late night refreshment, about offences relating to alcohol and for connected purposes.
Citation2003 c. 17
Territorial extent England and Wales, except that section 155(1) also extends to Northern Ireland and an amendment or repeal contained in Schedule 6 or 7 has the same extent as the enactment to which it relates.[2]
Dates
Royal assent10 July 2003
CommencementSee section 201(2) and the orders made thereunder.
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes
Relates to
  • Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005
  • The Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996
Status: Amended
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Licensing Act 2003 (c. 17) is an act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises in England and Wales used to sell or supply of alcohol, provide regulated entertainment, or provide late night refreshment. It allows some or all of these licensable activities to be contained in a single licence—the premises licence—that replaced other schemes. Responsibility for issuing licences is given to local authorities, specifically London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, unitary authorities, and district councils, who took over this power from the justices of the peace under a system of licensing committees. It came into effect midnight, 24 November 2005.

  1. ^ The citation of this Act by this short title is authorised by section 201(1) of this Act.
  2. ^ The Licensing Act 2003, sections 201(3) to (5)