Useful Information for premises and events

FIFA Men's World Cup 2026 - Government extended licensing hours

Extended hours for home nation matches

Under the proposed Licensing Hours Order, premises normally authorised to sell alcohol until 11:00 pm will be allowed to extend their opening hours for the sale of alcohol on the premises during the knockout stages of the tournament, provided that a home nation team (England or Scotland) is playing.

Permitted extended hours

Matches kicking off between 5:00pm and 9:00pm (BST):

Sale of alcohol permitted until 1:00am the following morning.

Matches kicking off after 9:00pm up to 10:00pm (BST):

Sale of alcohol permitted until 2:00am the following morning.

Matches not covered by the extension

The national extension does not apply to:

group-stage matches
matches kicking off before 5:00pm or after 10:00pm (BST)
matches where no home nation is playing.

In these circumstances, premises wishing to trade beyond their licensed hours must submit a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) in the usual way.

Important points for licence holders

The extension applies only to on-sales of alcohol.
Premises are expected to manage dispersal appropriately and minimise disturbance to nearby residents.
All existing licence conditions remain in force, including those relating to:

- public safety
- prevention of nuisance
- CCTV, door supervision, and capacity.

Further advice

Licence holders are encouraged to:

review staffing, security, and crowd management arrangements in advance
submit TENs in good time where required.

Fire safety

If you manage a licensed premises or licensed event, you will have legal duties as the
Responsible Person under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.

Key responsibilities

Fire Risk Assessment - Regularly review and update your fire risk assessment.
Occupancy - Ensure that you know the fire safety occupancy limit of your premises or event.
Fire Precautions - Ensure alarms, extinguishers, emergency lighting, and escape routes are in place and maintained.
Emergency Planning - Have a clear evacuation plan and make sure staff know what to do.
Training - Provide staff with fire safety training and refresh it regularly.
Maintenance and Records - Keep logs of checks, drills and maintenance.

Important points

Candles, sparklers, or pyrotechnics or anything with a naked flame - Take particular care when using these items and include them in your fire risk assessment. Avoid using indoor pyrotechnics indoors unless approved and managed safely with the correct control measures in place. We advise that any indoor fireworks or pyrotechnic products should be purchased from licensed retailers, classified as Category F1, and display the required CE or UKCA conformity markings.
Chimneys - Ensure they are kept clean and swept regularly, and this is documented as part of your fire risk assessment, with any works certified.
Drapes, materials, soundproof foam - Ensure that these, or similar, if used within your premises, have the correct fire resistance, and this is documented in your fire risk assessment, with any certification kept.

There is more information on fire safety for businesses, including a fact sheet on Occupancy Calculations for Licensed Premises on Gloucestershire County Council’s website: Fire safety law and guidance for businesses.

Spiking

Drink spiking is when someone puts drugs or alcohol into a person’s drink without their consent. It can include putting alcohol into a non-alcoholic drink, adding extra alcohol to an alcoholic drink, or slipping prescription or illegal drugs into an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink. It can be difficult to tell whether a drink has been spiked, as substances used for spiking usually have no taste, odour, or colour.

Needle spiking is when someone injects a victim with a substance using a hypodermic needle (or other form of administration, such as a combi-pen).

National figures suggest that spiking has increased over the past four years: LGA guidance on spiking.

Steps to prevent spiking could include:

staff training on identifying risks of, and spotting spiking
staff training on how to support a person who is vulnerable due to the effects of drugs or alcohol
effective CCTV
offering various anti-drink spiking products to customers
recording all potential spiking incidents and reporting spiking incidents to the police immediately
the ability to provide a safe space within the venue for customers who are vulnerable due to the effects of alcohol or drugs.

There is free training for hospitality staff and venues on spiking from the Home Office: Spiking awareness training

Ask for Angela

Ask for Angela is the national scheme that helps anyone who is feeling vulnerable on a night out to get the support they need. Staff at a night-time economy venue are trained to understand and respond to anyone who asks for Angela. This may include calling security, taking the person to a safe space, or helping them leave the premises unnoticed.

Forest of Dean District Council encourages adoption of the scheme by operators of bars, pubs, and other night-time venues where people meet up. We also encourage adoption by operators of cafes, restaurants, and other hospitality venues.

For information and training materials visit their website: Ask for Angela

Martyn's Law

Martyn's Law is UK wide legislation that places a requirement on those responsible for certain publicly accessible locations to consider the threat from terrorism and implement appropriate and proportionate mitigation measures.

The home office have provide the following useful information:

Home Office factsheet on Martyn’s law
Infographic on premises scope - summarises which premises fall within the standard or enhanced tiers, including occupancy thresholds and exclusions.
Infographic on events scope - sets out when an event meets the enhanced tier criteria, including public accessibility and the requirement for 800 or more people to be expected at the same time.
Top tips document - provides practical preparatory steps for organisations, such as reviewing existing security procedures, identifying responsible persons and making use of free counter-terrorism training.

For information see Martyn’s Law overview and what you need to know

The Protect UK website which gives support to organisations to evaluate and manage the risk from terrorism. There are links to useful e-learning training on awareness and how to be prepared for a terrorist attack.

What to do with fake ID

The following advice has been agreed between Gloucestershire licensing authorities and the police staff at licensed premises have no formal powers to seize ID however, if the individual wishes to surrender the ID, then we advise that you retain it for 28 days. If the individual returns with suitable ID or proof, then it can be handed back. After the 28 days, it can be destroyed. Please do not return the ID to any police station.

We suggest that any ID that is retained is recorded in the premises incident book and when returned (details of who to)/destroyed.

We would suggest that a poster stating that the ID would be destroyed after 28 days is displayed and that this is also stated to the person on surrender.

Ban on single use plastics

No business - including retailers, takeaways, food vendors or part of the hospitality industry - is permitted to sell or supply single-use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks, polystyrene cups or food containers in England.

This includes:

all types of single-use plastic - including biodegradable, compostable and recycled plastic
items wholly or partly made from plastic - including items with a plastic coating or lining, plastic additives, and plastic as part of a material mix, such as using plastic to bond layers of non-plastic materials.

Businesses can supply single-use plastic plates, bowls and trays if either of the following applies:

you are supplying them to another business
the items are packaging, pre-filled or filled at the point of sale.

Examples of this type of packaging include:

a pre-filled salad bowl or ready meal packaged in a tray
a salad bowl filled by the customer in store
a plate filled at the counter of an establishment selling ready-to-consume food, such as a takeaway, bakery, canteen or public house
a tray used to deliver food.

For more information please visit: Single-use plastics bans and restrictions - GOV.UK

Reduce, reuse and recycle

Licence holders should consider applying the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle to minimise waste and potential littering issues.

This could include:

eliminating single use, throw away items, for example replacing single use cutlery, cups, plates or containers with reusable alternative
encouraging patrons to bring their own reusable cups or providing them for purchase or deposit
having a refuse and recycling plan to ensure that there are receptacles for customers to put rubbish and recyclables/reusables so they can be appropriately separated out to be recycled or reused.

Simpler recycling legislation

There is new legislation which came into force on 31 March 2025 which places responsibility on businesses to recycle any food plus recyclables such as metal, plastics, paper and glass that they generate from their business. For more information, please visit: Simpler recycling for businesses.