Children in pubs

The Licensing Act 2003 regulates the sale and supply of alcohol in England and Wales. The act is underpinned by four licensing objectives. One of these is the “protection of children from harm”.

Most activity around licensing and protecting children relates to:

• regulating the access to licensed premises by children.
• preventing the consumption of alcohol by children on licensed premises.
• preventing the illegal sale of alcohol to under-18s.

This briefing gives an overview of the act’s specific offences relating to children and the conditions that licensing authorities can impose on individual premises. It also contains information on age verification, test purchasing, and employing children in pubs.

Further detail is available in Home Office, Revised guidance issued under section 182 of the Licensing Act 2003 (PDF)(December 2023).

A summary of the licensing framework in England and Wales is available from gov.uk.