Alcohol licensing figures published for England and Wales

The Home Office has published its latest annual statistics on alcohol and late-night refreshment licensing in England and Wales, covering the period from April 2025 to March 2026. The figures provide an overview of licensed premises, personal licence holders, enforcement activity and temporary event notices.

As at 31 March 2026, there were an estimated 968,400 personal licences, 227,300 premises licences and 12,500 club premises certificates in force across England and Wales. The statistics also recorded 10,600 premises with 24-hour alcohol licences.

The report shows that 184 cumulative impact areas were in place across 71 licensing authorities, while nine authorities operated a late-night levy. Together, those levies generated more than £2.5 million during the year.

During the year ending 31 March 2026, licensing authorities carried out an estimated 600 premises licence reviews, around 30% higher than in the year ending March 2024. The Home Office recorded crime and disorder as the most common reason for review, featuring in 82% of completed cases.

Excluding estimated data, 542 premises licence reviews were completed. Of those, 250 licences were revoked or withdrawn, 64 were suspended and 37 resulted in no further action. In the remaining cases, licence conditions were added or modified.

The statistics also show that an estimated 149,600 Temporary Event Notices (TENs) were issued during 2025/26, an increase of around 2% compared with the previous reporting period. The Home Office noted that TEN activity has continued to rise following the decline seen during the Covid-19 pandemic and is now above pre-pandemic levels.

In relation to licensed premises, Westminster recorded the highest number of premises licences in England and Wales, with 3,993 licences in force as at 31 March 2026. London had the highest number of premises licences at regional level, with 33,769 licences, followed by the South East with 32,376.

The report also includes data on 24-hour alcohol licences. Of the estimated 10,600 premises holding such licences, 44% were supermarkets and stores, 27% were hotel bars and 11% were pubs, bars and nightclubs.

Following the expiry of the temporary off-sales easement under the Business and Planning Act 2020 on 31 March 2025, the Home Office reported that 329 minor variations had been granted to add off-sales permissions by 31 March 2026.

The publication also contains data relating to spiking. During 2025/26, three premises had additional licence conditions imposed as a result of concerns relating to spiking incidents. No premises licences were revoked for spiking-related reasons during the reporting period.

The Home Office states that some headline figures include estimates where licensing authorities were unable to provide complete returns, in order to maintain comparability across the national dataset.