Can children go in pubs? The rules in England and Wales, and what to put on the TVs when they're in

Yes, children can go in pubs in England and Wales. No law bans them. Under-16s have to be with someone 18 or over if the pub is mainly a drinking place, and nobody under 16 can be in any licensed premises without an adult between midnight and 5am. 16 and 17 year olds can have a beer, wine or cider with a table meal, as long as an adult buys it and sits with them. Beyond that it's down to the pub and its premises licence. That's the law. The bit fewer licensees think about is what's on the TVs while the kids are in.

Search this question and you get travel forums, a parenting thread and a news story about a pub that banned children. None of them is written from behind the bar, and none of them mentions the licence conditions that actually decide it for most pubs. This is the version I'd want if I was a new licensee, written for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own licensing law and different rules.

The rules in one table

Children and licensed premises in England and Wales, Licensing Act 2003

Who	What the law says	Where it comes from
Under 16, no adult with them	Not allowed in a pub that's exclusively or primarily used for drinking while it's open for alcohol. Not allowed in any premises open for alcohol between midnight and 5am.	Section 145
Under 16 with an adult (18+)	Allowed, unless your premises licence conditions say otherwise	Section 145, plus your licence
Under 16, food-led pub, daytime	The section 145 offence doesn't stop them coming in alone before midnight, but you don't have to let them	Section 182 guidance, 14.57 and 14.59
Under 18 buying alcohol	An offence for them, and an offence for an adult to buy it on their behalf	Section 149
16 or 17 drinking with a meal	Beer, wine or cider only, with a table meal, an adult with them at the meal, and the adult buys it	Sections 149(5) and 150(4)
Under 18 drinking anything else	An offence for them, and for staff who knowingly allow it	Section 150

Two details catch people out. The 16 year old with Sunday dinner can drink the glass of wine, but they can't buy it, not even with their own money at the bar. The adult has to. And it's beer, wine or cider only. A 17 year old with a gin and tonic at the table is an offence however good the roast is.

"Exclusively or primarily used for drinking"

This is the phrase that decides whether unaccompanied under-16s can be in at all, and the Act doesn't define it. The government's statutory guidance, revised in September 2026, says it should be given its ordinary and natural meaning, and that where it isn't clear a business is mainly about alcohol, the operator and the enforcement agencies should talk it through before anyone gets prosecuted. In practice a wet-led local is primarily for drinking. A pub where most of the trade is food is a harder call, and if you're relying on it, ask your licensing officer rather than guessing.

The offence sits with whoever works there and has the authority to ask the child to leave, the premises licence holder and the DPS. It's a fine of up to £1,000 (level 3 on the standard scale). There's a defence if you believed they were 16 or over, or the adult was 18 or over, and you'd taken reasonable steps, which the Act says means asking for evidence of age that would have convinced a reasonable person. Same principle as Challenge 25 at the bar. If you're not sure, ask, and write it in the incident log if it goes badly.

Your licence probably says more than the law does

Go and get your premises licence out and read the conditions in the annexes. Plenty of pubs have conditions on children, and they're binding even though they're not in the Act. The guidance lists the kind of thing councils attach:

• hours when children can be present, for example no under-18s after a set time in the evening
• parts of the pub children can't go in, often the bar area or the games room
• an age below 18 under which children must have an adult with them
• exclusion of children when particular activities are on
• full exclusion of under-18s while licensable activities are happening

The guidance also says a council can't put a condition on a licence that forces you to let children in. So if your licence is silent, it's your call. You can be an adults-only pub, or a pub that's family-friendly until 7pm and adults after. Put it on the door and stick to it, because staff applying the rule differently every night is how you end up with the one argument that turns into a complaint.

What's on the TVs when the kids are in

Here's the bit that doesn't make the licensing course. The protection of children from harm is one of the four licensing objectives, and the statutory guidance says it covers moral and psychological harm, not just alcohol. It names exposure to strong language and sexual expletives as an example, in the context of certain films or adult entertainment. Your screens are part of that.

Live broadcast TV is the easy part. Broadcasters already schedule around the 9pm watershed, so the lunchtime news or the afternoon match won't be the problem. The problem is everything on your screens that isn't a broadcast:

• Music video channels and playlists. The explicit version of a chart song with a family of four eating fish and chips under the speaker. Choose radio edits for the daytime playlist and check what the channel plays, not what it says it plays.
• Streaming and autoplay. The next video is whatever the algorithm fancies. Daytime screens shouldn't be on anything that picks its own next clip.
• Films. A film needs its own licensing, and a premises licence that allows films carries a mandatory condition about age classification. I've covered the cost and the rules in can a pub show a film.
• Your own offers screens. Drink promotions on a loop in the family dining room are a bad look, and the guidance asks pubs near schools and youth clubs to make sure their advertising isn't on show when children are likely to be nearby. A daytime loop of food offers, quiz night and the kids' menu does the same selling job without the risk.

Football is the one you can't fully control. The Premier League's own agreement removed gambling sponsors from the front of matchday shirts from the 2026/27 season, but betting brands can still appear on sleeves and pitchside hoardings, so a family watching a lunchtime match will still see them. You can't edit the match. You can choose what runs before kick-off and at half-time, and that's where your own screen content earns its keep. More on that in promoting match days, and what you can legally show at 3pm on a Saturday is in the 3pm blackout guide.

One idea worth trying

Give staff a pushchair rule. When a pushchair, a high chair or a kids' menu goes out, whoever's on the bar flicks the screens to the daytime channel: radio-edit music, food offers, no drinks promos. One trigger, no judgement call, nobody has to decide whether a song is too much. It takes two seconds with the remote, and it means the family who came in for Sunday dinner leaves thinking it's a pub they can bring the kids back to. That's worth more than any drinks offer on the screen.

Common questions

Can children go in pubs in England and Wales?

Yes. No law bans children from pubs. Under-16s must be with an adult aged 18 or over in a pub that is exclusively or primarily used for drinking, and no under-16 can be in licensed premises without an adult between midnight and 5am. Premises licence conditions and the pub's own policy can restrict it further.

Can a 16 year old drink in a pub with a meal?

A 16 or 17 year old can drink beer, wine or cider with a table meal if an adult aged 18 or over is with them at the meal and the adult buys it. They can't buy it themselves, and spirits are not covered.

Can a pub refuse to let children in?

Yes. The Licensing Act includes no presumption of giving children access, admission is at the discretion of those running the premises, and a council can't attach a licence condition that forces a pub to admit children.

What is the fine for allowing an unaccompanied child in a pub?

Allowing an unaccompanied under-16 into a pub that's mainly for drinking, or into any licensed premises between midnight and 5am, is an offence under section 145 with a fine of up to £1,000, level 3 on the standard scale.

What should a pub show on its TVs when children are in?

Broadcast TV already follows the 9pm watershed, so the risk is non-broadcast content: explicit music videos, autoplaying streams, films and drinks promotions. A daytime channel with radio-edit music and food and event offers avoids the problem.