If you want to open later than your licence allows for Halloween, your standard Temporary Event Notice has to be with the council by Friday 16 October 2026. That's this week. For Christmas Day and the Boxing Day bank holiday the standard deadline is 10 December, for New Year's Eve it's 14 December, and New Year's Day is 15 December. A TEN costs £21. A pub can have up to 15 of them in 2026, covering no more than 21 days in total, and a New Year's Eve TEN that runs past midnight counts against both years. From 1 January 2027 the limit is due to rise to 20 notices and 26 days, subject to Parliament.
Every year the same posts go up in the groups in the second week of December. "Can I still get a late licence for New Year?" Sometimes, yes. But a late TEN can be killed by a single objection with no hearing and no appeal, so leaving it late is a gamble with the busiest night of the year. Here are the dates, the rules and the stock side of a later night, worked out now while there's time.
First, check you actually need one
A TEN is for licensable activity your premises licence doesn't already cover. Opening past your licensed hours is the common one. So is live music or regulated entertainment at times the licence doesn't allow, or hot food after 11pm if you're not licensed for late night refreshment.
Get your premises licence out and read the hours and conditions before you fill anything in. Plenty of pub licences already include extra hours on New Year's Eve, and some include other seasonal extensions. Plenty don't. Don't assume either way. If it's already on your licence, you don't need a TEN and you don't use one of your 15.
This is England and Wales. Scotland has a different system (occasional licences and extended hours through the local board), so check with your board.
The 2026 deadlines
A standard TEN has to be received by the council at least 10 clear working days before the event. Clear working days don't include the day it's received or the day of the event, and weekends and bank holidays don't count. A late TEN can go in no later than 5 clear working days before, and no earlier than 9.
| Occasion | Date | Standard TEN received by | Late TEN received by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halloween | Saturday 31 October | Friday 16 October | Friday 23 October |
| Bonfire Night | Thursday 5 November | Wednesday 21 October | Wednesday 28 October |
| St Andrew's Day | Monday 30 November | Friday 13 November | Friday 20 November |
| Christmas Day | Friday 25 December | Thursday 10 December | Thursday 17 December |
| Boxing Day bank holiday | Monday 28 December | Thursday 10 December | Thursday 17 December |
| New Year's Eve | Thursday 31 December | Monday 14 December | Monday 21 December |
| New Year's Day | Friday 1 January 2027 | Tuesday 15 December | Tuesday 22 December |
These match the dates published by licensing solicitors Poppleston Allen, and I've counted the New Year's Eve and Halloween ones through myself. Boxing Day itself falls on a Saturday this year, so the bank holiday is Monday 28 December. If your event is a Friday or Saturday in December rather than one of these dates, count 10 working days back yourself and then add a couple of days for safety. If the last day falls on a weekend, get it in on the Friday before.
The rules in one place
| Rule | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Fee | £21 per notice |
| People | Fewer than 500 at all times, staff included |
| Length | No more than 168 hours (7 days) per event |
| Per premises | Up to 15 TENs a year, no more than 21 days in total |
| Per person | Up to 50 a year with a personal licence, 5 without |
| Late TENs | Up to 10 a year with a personal licence, 2 without, and they count towards the totals |
| Back-to-back events | At least 24 hours between them |
| Objections | Police or environmental health have 3 working days to object |
You have to apply as an individual, not as a company. You also have to get copies to the police and environmental health, though if you apply online through gov.uk the council sends them on for you. Keep the TEN safe at the pub and display a copy, as gov.uk sets out.
Why a late TEN is a gamble
With a standard TEN, if the police or environmental health object, the council's licensing committee holds a hearing at least 24 hours before the event. They can approve it, add conditions or turn it down. You get to make your case, and you can appeal to the magistrates.
With a late TEN, an objection means the notice isn't valid and the event can't go ahead. No hearing, no conditions, no appeal. Objections can only be about crime and disorder, public nuisance, public safety or protecting children from harm, but on a busy late night near houses, noise is an easy objection to make.
So for New Year's Eve, the 14 December date is the real deadline. The 21 December one is a fallback, not a plan.
The New Year's Eve trap: two years, two days
This one catches people out. Under section 107 of the Licensing Act 2003, if a TEN's event period straddles two calendar years, the limits on the number of notices apply separately to each year. And a "day" for the 21-day limit runs from midnight to midnight.
So a TEN covering 7pm on 31 December to 2am on 1 January:
- counts as one of your 15 notices for 2026, and as one of next year's notices too;
- uses one day of 2026's 21 and one day of 2027's.
If you've already used 15 TENs this year for summer events and the World Cup, the council has to give you a counter notice and your New Year's Eve can't go ahead on a TEN. Count what you've used before you plan Christmas. Your council can tell you if you're not sure.
What changes in 2027
The Home Office minister announced on 10 September 2026 that the Licensing Act 2003 (Permitted Temporary Activities) (Amendment) Order 2026 is being laid. Subject to Parliament approving it, from 1 January 2027 a premises can have up to 20 TENs a year covering up to 26 days, up from 15 and 21. The same higher limits applied temporarily in 2022 and 2023.
None of that helps this Christmas. Every TEN in 2026 is still under the 15 and 21. But if you'd been holding back on summer events because you ran out last year, there's more room next year.
The stock side of a later night
This is where I'd spend the rest of the hour. An extra two hours on a busy night isn't just two more hours of sales, it's two more hours of pouring when everyone's tired, the bar's three deep and nobody's watching the measures. It's when stock goes walkabout without anyone doing anything wrong.
- Order for the hours you're actually open. Look at what you sold in the last two hours of a normal Saturday, add it on top of a normal busy night, then add your buffer. The Christmas and New Year stock guide has the full order plan and the Halloween guide has the one for the 31st.
- Count the busy lines before and after. Not a full stocktake. Your top lagers, the spirits that'll be in doubles and anything on a promotion. Ten minutes before you open, ten minutes the next morning. Then you know what the late hours poured, not just what the till says.
- Log waste as it happens. Dropped glasses, spills, the pint that went over. A late night makes a lot of it and nobody remembers it the next day. A wastage log on the back bar is enough.
- Write the night up. Busy late nights are when incidents happen. If your licence has conditions about an incident book, keep it as you go. The incident log guide covers what to record.
Then a quick sum before you decide the extension's worth it. Take the extra hours, your best guess at the extra pints, and your gross profit per pint. Take off staff for the extra hours at your real hourly cost (the wage guide works that out), the £21, and any door staff your licence needs. If there's not much left, a TEN might not be the answer for a quiet midweek bank holiday, even if it's the right one for New Year's Eve.
Where StockTap fits
StockTap won't apply for your TEN. It'll do the counting either side of the night. Spot checks on your busiest lines before and after, measured against what the till rang through, and a wastage log with the reason and the date. When the big night's done, you'll know what it made.
Common questions
When is the deadline for a New Year's Eve TEN in 2026?
For a standard TEN, the council needs it by Monday 14 December 2026. The last day for a late TEN is Monday 21 December, but a late TEN falls if the police or environmental health object, with no hearing or appeal.
How much does a Temporary Event Notice cost?
£21 per notice in England and Wales.
How many TENs can a pub have in a year?
Up to 15 per premises in 2026, covering no more than 21 days in total. Subject to Parliament, that rises to 20 notices and 26 days from 1 January 2027.
Does a New Year's Eve TEN count against this year or next?
Both. Under section 107(6) of the Licensing Act 2003, a TEN that straddles two calendar years counts against the notice limits in each year, and each day either side of midnight counts towards that year's day limit.
Do I need a TEN if my premises licence covers New Year's Eve?
No. If your licence already allows the hours and activities you want, you don't need one. Many pub licences include extended New Year's Eve hours, but read yours to check.
Sources
- Fee, under 500 people, 168 hours, 15 TENs and 21 days per premises, 50/5 per person, late TEN 10/2, 24-hour gap, 10 and 5-9 clear working days, objections within 3 working days, hearings, late TEN objections, appeals, display: gov.uk, Temporary Events Notice (England and Wales), checked 12 October 2026.
- Straddling two years, calendar year and midnight-to-midnight day: Licensing Act 2003, section 107, legislation.gov.uk, checked 12 October 2026.
- 2026 TEN dates for Halloween, Bonfire Night, St Andrew's Day, Christmas, the Boxing Day bank holiday and New Year: Poppleston Allen, 2026 Temporary event notice (TEN) dates, last modified 22 May 2026, checked 12 October 2026. New Year's Eve and Halloween recounted by me against the gov.uk rule.
- Increase to 20 TENs and 26 days from 1 January 2027, subject to Parliamentary approval: John Gaunt & Partners, Government Confirms Permanent Increase to TEN Limits, 14 September 2026, and Stand Out Magazine, 18 September 2026 (Written Statement by Home Office Minister Sarah Jones, 10 September 2026).