Whilst it is quite unusual for Licensing Officers to give you advance notice of a Licensing inspection and such inspections can cover numerous things and be difficult to prepare for, there are some steps you can take to assist you:

• If you have advance notice of an inspection, try and find out how experienced the inspector is and whether they have a good understanding of licensed businesses and premises.
• Ensure you have everything on site that you should have and are displaying everything you should be, that the layout of the premises accords with the approved plans and that all fire escape routes are free of obstructions at all times.
• Ensure staff are aware of the hours and conditions attached to the Licence and know where your Licence (certified copy of the full Premises Licence, approved plans and Personal Authorisation), authorisations, incident logs, refusals books, training records and risk assessments are ready for inspection and that refusals books and incident logs are properly completed and reviewed by duty managers from time to time and that staff are aware of the importance of completing such logs. You should also ensure that if you operate a Challenge 21 or 25 Policy, appropriate signage is displayed and staff are trained to understand what the Policy means and how to apply it.
• Make your staff aware of what questions may be asked by the Licensing Officer. Any enforcement officer may ask any member of staff:
• Who is authorising the sale of alcohol (i.e. who is the Designated Premises Supervisor and the other personal licence holders?)
• Where is the Licence Summary and Duty to Display (these must be displayed near the main entrance)?
• Where is the full copy Premises Licence and can they inspect it?
• Where is the authorisation for non-personal licence holders to serve alcohol?
• Ensure you have adequate numbers of personal licence holders to provide proper cover for your Premises. The Licensing Act specifies that all supplies of alcohol must be authorised by a personal licence holder.