Commentary on Parts Part 3 – Premises Licences Section 23 – Determination of premises licence applications
49.This section sets out the procedure that Licensing Boards must adopt when they receive an application for a premises licence. It provides both for the circumstances where a Licensing Board proposes to grant a premises licence and where it proposes to refuse a premises licence.
50.Subsection (5) sets out the grounds on which a Licensing Board may refuse a premises licence application. Those grounds are set out in paragraphs (a) to (e). One of the grounds relates to consistency with the licensing objectives. When considering the impact on the crime prevention objective in particular, the Board must pay particular attention to any convictions for relevant or foreign offences of which they have been notified by the chief constable and any recommendation as to refusal of the application which the chief constable may have given. However, the existence of convictions does not preclude the board from granting the licence.