Frequently asked questions by licensees

How are premises assessed?

Trained assessors make assessment visits to all premises that apply for accreditation to the scheme. The visits are arranged by appointment, at the convenience of the licensee, and are made during the day. They last about an hour. The assessors are trained by members of Manchester’s Police Citysafe Team, who ran the scheme first.

The assessor uses a scoring booklet, which allows space for comments, explanation of any decisions taken during the assessment, and to record instances of good/bad practice.
The assessment process is not about carrying out enforcement activities. Best Bar None is a positive accreditation scheme.

The aim of assessment is to ensure fairness: the assessors will check details on the application and fill in any gaps in information. They also look for evidence that premises have essential policies and procedures in place.

How can smaller operators compete against High Street chains?

The scheme makes sure that small and large venues can compete fairly because it assesses like for like. You can choose to apply for any one of three categories - pubs, clubs or bars – and the judges will look for good practice for each type of premises.

For example, in the Southampton Best Bar None 2006 results, all three winners in pub category were independents; two of the winners in the bar category were independents; and one of the club winners was part of a small group of premises. Plus, the overall winner was an independent.

The use of trained assessors – see How are premises assessed? - ensures that uniform marking and judging standards are applied across the whole range of alcohol retail outlets in the area.

Does underage test purchasing results affect applications?

If premises were being prosecuted for underage sales, this would be drawn to the judging panel’s attention. It’s likely that one or more of the judges would be aware of premises that had passed or failed. However, the judging panel would need to take account of the fact that some premises won’t have been subject to test purchasing and they would have to take that into consideration.

For more information on Best Bar None

If you have any questions or comments about the scheme, please contact:

Séverine Bernasconi
Senior Community Safety Officer
Telephone: 01332 256874
email: severine.bernasconi@derby.gov.uk