Rochdale Borough Council

​​​​​​​​​You may need to apply for a Club Premises Certificate through your council if you're a social, sporting or political members club (like a working men's club or British Legion).

• Do I need a certificate?
• Conditions
• Licence Fees
• How to apply
• Objections
• Displaying your certificate
• Appeals
• Fines and penalties

Do I need a certificate?

You need a certificate to:

• Sell or supply alcohol to members or guests.
• Provide regulated entertainment, like musical performances or film screenings to members or guests.

Conditions

To qualify for a certificate, your club must make sure:

• It has premises that are occupied and used regularly for club purposes.
• Alcohol and entertainment is only provided to members and their guests.
• Only someone 18 or older who is nominated by the club can serve alcohol or buy it for the club.
• There is no arrangement for anyone to benefit financially from buying or selling alcohol.
• New members wait 2  days from their application before getting membership privileges.
• It's established and conducted in good faith.
• It has at least 25 members.

You may have to pay Machine Games Duty on any gaming machines you have on your premises.

Licence fees

You'll be charged a fee that's based on the rateable value of the property.

Application fees range from £100 to £1,905, depending on the Business Rate band of the premises. Business Rates explained

Licence Fees for each Business Rate band

If your premises doesn't have a rateable value it will fall into the lowest fee band of £100.

How to apply

For a Club Premises Certificate you'll need to complete the application form and return it to us along with:

• A plan of the premises.
• A copy of the rules of the club.
• A club operating schedule.

To apply:

1. Complete and return the Premises Licence application form along with the relevant fee. You can pay by cheque or credit/debit card.
2. Submit a plan of the building.
3. Give a full copy of the application and plan to all Responsible Authorities (10kb)
4. Display a Public Notice.
• It must be displayed in a clearly visible place on the premises for at least 28 consecutive days starting the day after the application was submitted.
• It must be displayed where it can be conveniently read by members of the public from the exterior of the premises.
• It must be at least A4 size.
• It must be printed legibly in black ink or typed in a black font equal or greater than font size 16.
• If the premises covers an area greater than 50 square metres a further, identical notice must be displayed every 50 metres around the perimeter of the premises.

• You can use a Public Notice template to display on your premises (44kb)

5. Publish a notice in the local press 
• It must be placed in a local newspaper that circulates in the vicinity of the premises.
• It must be published on at least one occasion during the period 10 working days after the day the application was submitted.

After completing the form: 

• Send completed forms to licensing.reg@rochdale.gov.uk;
• Post it to Rochdale Borough Council Licensing, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU; or  
• Bring it in to the Licensing Unit (see contact section for address and opening hours).

Objections

Any interested party may make representations to us before the certificate is granted or before amendments to a certificate are granted.

If representations are made a hearing will be held to consider the application and the representations. Notices will be made by us detailing the reasons for any outcome. Interested parties who made representations will receive notice of a failed application.

An interested party is:

• A person living near the premises or a body representing such a person.
• A person involved in a business near the premises or a body representing such a person.

Displaying your certificate

You must prominently display the Club Premises Certificate in your club.

Appeals

If an application is rejected, please contact us in the first instance (see contact section for how to get in touch).

If you disagree with the licensing committee's decision, you can appeal to your local magistrates' court. You must do this within 21 days.

Fines and penalties

You can be jailed for up to 6 months and/or fined if you provide alcohol or entertainment without the necessary certificate or without following its conditions.