News release from ACRE
Important changes for management committees of community buildings
ACRE and the Rural Community Action Network welcome the changes to the Licensing Act 2003 announced by the Department of Culture Media and Sport that will take effect from today (29th July 2009).
The Legislative Reform (Supervision of Alcohol Sales in Church and Village Halls) Order 2009 will allow volunteer committees managing community buildings to take joint responsibility for the sale of alcohol in their buildings instead of being required to appoint an individual as the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS). Small committees whether urban or rural have found it difficult to recruit and fund a volunteer DPS who was willing to take on the responsibilty and the required training.
Management committees will need to ensure that the sale of alcohol is included in their Premises Licence and be able to demonstrate clearly to their local licensing authority how they operate and that there will be appropriate supervision of alcohol sales at different types of events.