Licensing policy

Our licensing policy has been developed following consultation with representatives of licence holders, responsible authorities, local residents and their representatives.

The licensing policy has four main purposes, these are:

• To reinforce to elected members on the licensing committee, the boundaries and power of the local authority, and to provide them with parameters under which to make their decisions.  The committee will be able to test the application against criteria set out in the policy and if necessary add conditions to those set out in the operating schedule.
• To inform the licence applicants of the parameters under which the authority will make licence decisions, set out examples of good management practice and therefore how a licensed premises is likely to be able to operate within an area (note that each case must be examined on an individual basis).
• To inform residents and businesses of the parameters under which the authority will make licence decisions, and therefore how their needs will be addressed.
• To inform a court of law how the council arrived at its decisions when these are challenged in a court, and to support these decisions.

You are advised to refer to the licensing policy before preparing and submitting your applications, as we will follow this when determining your application.

Please note that certain areas of Carmarthenshire are covered by a Cumulative Impact Policy.

As the licensing authority for Carmarthenshire we are required to carry out our functions under the act with a view to promoting the licensing objectives, which are:

• The prevention of crime and disorder
•  Public safety
• The prevention of public nuisance
• The protection of children from harm

When carrying out our functions we must also follow our licensing policy, as well as any statutory guidance issued by the Secretary of State under section 182 of the Act.

Download Licensing Policy (.pdf)