Terms and Conditions for Hirers

1. Definitions

In these terms and conditions the following expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, namely: ‘the Council’ shall mean Cheltenham Borough Council, ‘the Hall’ shall mean Cheltenham Town Hall or Pittville Pump Room as the case may be, ‘the Manager’ shall mean the manager of Cheltenham Town Hall or Pittville Pump Room as the case may be, ‘the Caterer’ shall mean the company, firm or person contracted to manage the catering operations at the Hall for the time being, ‘the Director of Resources’ shall mean the Director of Resources for the time being of the Council, ‘the Hirer’ shall mean the person by whom the application form is signed, or, if that person is specifically stated to have signed for or on behalf of some other person, body or company that person, body or company shall be considered the Hirer and shall be jointly and severally liable with the person who signed the application form.
 

2. Applications for Hiring

a) All applications shall be in writing and shall state the precise nature of the purpose for which the Hall is required and shall be delivered to the Manager at the Hall. No application will be considered from any person under the age of 18 years of if made otherwise than on the appropriate application form obtainable from the Manager.
b) The Council may refuse any application or accept the same upon such terms and conditions as it may from time to time deem it necessary to impose.
c) The Hall shall not be deemed to be hired by the Hirer until he has received a written notice of acceptance from the Manager that the application has been granted.
 

3. Hire charges

a) The charges for the hire of the Hall shall be in accordance with the scale applicable on the first day of the hiring, which scale is fixed by the Council from time to time and shall be available to the Hirer on making request to the Manager.
b) The Manager may require from the Hirer a deposit, (which may include all or part of any minimum income,) the amount of which shall be at the discretion of the Manager. Such deposit shall be payable upon demand, as a pre-condition to the approval of the hire. The outstanding balance of both the hire charge and any guaranteed minimum income payable to the Caterer (as provided by Condition 22(f) hereof) shall be paid, if demanded, not later than 7 days before the start of the hiring.
c) All outstanding monies due to the Council arising out of the hiring shall be paid immediately upon receipt of the Council’s invoice for the hiring.
d) If the amount of any guaranteed income is required and paid as provided above, such sum shall first be applied in making good any shortfall between the amount of income (if any) actually received by the Caterer and the amount of the guaranteed minimum income and any surplus shall then be held for the Council in payment of any other sums due to the Council in respect of the hiring (or any extension thereof), with any balance being repaid to the Hirer as soon as reasonably practicable.
 

4. Cancellation of hiring

a) The Council may by notice in writing to the Hirer cancel the hiring if the Council wishes to use the Hall in connection with an occasion of National Rejoicing or Mourning, Parliamentary or European Parliamentary or County or Borough Council Elections, or for a purpose which, in the reasonable opinion of the Council, is of Civic or National importance on a date, or dates, on which the Council has agreed to hire it to the Hirer.
b) The Council may upon receipt of a written request by the Hirer agree to terminate the hiring provided that such written request shall be accompanied by the balance of the charges payable by the Hirer for the hiring.
c) The Council may without notice terminate the hiring and effect immediate vacation of the Hall if:
  i) the Hirer breaches any of these terms and conditions
  ii) it appears to the Manager that the Hirer has made a material omission or mis-statement in the application form or that the hiring would be likely to result in damage to the Hall or in public disorder.
  iii) prior to the start of a function the programme of other details or particulars referred to in Condition 6 hereof have not been supplied or if supplied have not been approved by the Manager.
  iv) any sum payable under Condition 3 hereof is not paid by the Hirer by the date upon which it is due.
d) In the event of industrial action being taken by the employees of the Council, the Manager may cancel a hiring where the industrial action makes such cancellation necessary.
e) If the hiring is cancelled under the terms of Condition 4(a) or 4(d) the Council shall refund to the Hirer without interest any charges paid in respect of the hiring. No further compensation whatsoever shall be payable by the Council to the Hirer for any loss or damage howsoever suffered.
 

5. Permitted use

a) The Hall shall not be used for any purpose other than that stated in the Hirer’s application for hire and such use shall be subject to any special conditions set out in the written notice of acceptance.
b) The Hall shall not be sub-let by the Hirer without the consent in writing of the Manager which consent may be given subject to such conditions or stipulations as the Manager may deem fit to impose.
 

6. Programme and layout

a) The Hirer shall submit, in writing to the Manager at least 14 days before the date of the hiring details of the proposed programme and required position of furnishings, stagings etc., together with the proposed layout of any chairs, tables, furniture and equipment to be used in connection with the hiring, whether the same is the property of the Council or the Hirer.
b) The Manager shall have the right to object to any song, dance, act, speech, dialogue, costume or any other item whatsoever and that item shall forthwith be deleted from the programme or otherwise omitted.
 

7. Posters and tickets

a) The Hirer shall submit to the Manager copies of all posters, invitations and bills intended to be used for advertising purposes before they are published or distributed and including any announcement or advertisement to be published in the press.
b) No poster, bill, announcement or any other advertising matter shall be published or made stating that music and dancing or consumption of alcohol shall take place during hours other than those specified in the Licences referred to in Condition 10 hereof.
c) If admission to a hiring is to be by ticket the Hirer shall observe and perform all the provisions and conditions concerning the printing and issuing of tickets as shall be applicable at the time when the tickets for the event are first made available. Such conditions and provisions shall be fixed from time to time by the Council and shall be made available to the Hirer on application to the Manager.
 

8. Fly-posting

The Council is opposed to fly-posting. It is an offence to display an advertisement on land or buildings without the consent of the owner or occupier. If an advertisement relating to the hiring is illegally displayed, whether or not a prosecution is taken in respect of it, the Manager may cancel the hiring without any liability to the Council and without payment of any compensation to the Hirer who will remain responsible for paying the full cost of the hiring.
 

9. Copyright

a) The Council has obtained the Licence of the Performing Rights Society Limited for the performance of copyright musical works in the Hall on condition that declarations of all works so performed will be made by the Hirer in full to the Performing Rights Society Limited. The Hirer shall comply with the terms and conditions of the said Licence and immediately after the hiring shall submit details of all musical works performed at the hiring on the appropriate form to the Manager.
b) The Hirer is responsible for and shall pay to the Council any payment due to the Performing Rights Society Limited in the form of a fee at the then prevailing rate as determined by the Performing Rights Society Limited.
c) The playing of recorded music in the Hall is not permitted unless the Hirer has obtained in advance the Licence of Phonographic Performance Limited.
d) The Hirer is responsible for the payment of any charges in respect of any copyrighted work performed at the hiring, whether performed live or as a recording.
 

10. Premises Licence

The Hirer must observe and perform all the provisions and conditions attached to the Premises Licence relating to the Hall, and shall indemnify the Council and its officers against all damages, penalties or costs which might be incurred as a result of a breach of the said provisions and conditions. Details of the Premises Licence can be obtained from the Manager and the Hirer is deemed to have notice of it.
 

11. Maximum capacities

The Hirer shall ensure that the maximum number permitted to be at any particular type of hiring at the Hall is not exceeded. The maximum numbers in relation to the Hall are as follows:Town Hall 1008 persons, Pittville Pump Room 400 persons. The Manager will restrict the capacities for particular events – banquets, dances, meetings etc. – and will inform the Hirer of this at the point of booking.
 

12. Cloakroom

The Council may, at its discretion, provide cloakroom attendants at the Hall and may make a charge for these facilities.

13. Children

If the Hall is being hired for the purpose of an entertainment for children, the Hirer shall arrange for sufficient adult supervision by persons accustomed to the care and control of children.
 

14. Conduct of patrons

a) The Hirer shall ensure that no undesirable person is permitted to enter the Hall and is responsible for good order and conduct during the hiring.
b) The Manager reserves the right to refuse admission to any person or to remove any person from the Hall.
c) The Manager may engage any security contractor, police or persons necessary to control the conduct of patrons and charge the cost to the Hirer.
d) The Manager may immediately terminate the hiring if the general conduct of patrons is unsatisfactory. In such an event no compensation will be payable by the Council to the Hirer or any other person.
 

15. Hirer’s equipment

a) No article, piece of equipment or apparatus to be used in connection with the hiring shall be brought into the Hall without the consent of the Manager.
b) The Manager may remove from the Hall any such article, piece of equipment of apparatus which has been brought in without his consent and if any damage has been caused to the Hall or its fixtures and fittings by the bringing in of the same the Manager may terminate the hiring forthwith.
c) In any event, no object weighing over 1 ton or the weight of which exceeds 120lbs per square foot shall be brought into the Hall.
 

16. Responsibility for damage

a) The Hirer shall be responsible for ensuring that no damage is caused to the Hall or any fixtures or fittings therein. In particular, the Hirer shall ensure that no equipment or materials are dragged across the floor of the Hall; no nails, hooks, screws etc., are driven into the fabric of the Hall, and that no paste, gum or other adhesive is used to affix any poster or other paper, and/or other materials, to the fabric of the Hall.
b) The Manager reserves the right to remove from the Hall any person seen causing damage to the Hall.
 

17. Use of electrical, sound, lighting or film equipment

a) No film projector, lighting equipment, lighting control panel, sound system, sound control panel, special effects, lasers, pyrotechnics, or any other similar piece of equipment shall be used during the hiring, without the consent of the Manager who may impose such additional conditions as they thinks fit to ensure the safety of the Hall, and persons attending the hiring.
b) The Council reserves the right to engage the services of the Council Electrician or their representative to approve/inspect/test/install any equipment, and for such a service a fee will be payable.
c) Use of any electrical supply on stage or elsewhere, other than 13 amp sockets, must be with the approval of the Manager and/or the Council Electrician or their representative.
 

18. Licensable activities

The Hirer shall not hold or permit to be held in the Hall any activity that is not covered in the Premises Licence at the time of the hiring.
 

19. Sales service

a) The Council may, at its discretion, provide a service for the sale of programmes or merchandise in connection with the hiring by arrangement with the Manager.
b) Whether such sales are undertaken by Council staff or by the Hirer, the Hirer will be required to pay a commission thereon to the Council, (the amount of which commission to be determined by the Manager).
 

20. Licensed bar and catering service

a) The Hall has a comprehensive catering service including a licensed bar, which is available for the use of the Hirer at the discretion of the Manager, provided that the Hirer gives at least 14 days’ prior notice in writing to the Manager.
b) The use of the licensed bar will not be granted where the hiring is to be patronised by young persons where the majority of them appear to the Manager to be likely to be under 18 years of age.
c) The hours of opening of the licensed bar and catering service are at the discretion of the Manager, and within the terms of the Premises License.
d) The Manager may close the bar at any time if the behaviour of any patron is not in his opinion satisfactory.
e) It is a condition of the hiring that no catering service shall be provided other than by the Council. Any person attempting to bring alcoholic drinks, soft drinks or food into the Hall in contravention of this condition will be refused entry.
f) It is a condition of the hiring that should a licensed bar and/or buffet service be required the Hirer shall guarantee a minimum income to the Council’s Caterer for the provision of these facilities during the period of the hiring. The amount of such minimum income shall be communicated to the Hirer before the hiring. If such minimum income is not achieved the Hirer shall pay to the Council’s Caterer, within 7 days of a written demand there for, the difference between actual income received by the Council’s Caterer and the guaranteed minimum income, or purchase goods from the Council’s Caterer to that value. If the Hirer does not pay such difference as provided above or purchase goods to that value, the Council may (in addition to any other remedy available to it) deduct such sum from any monies then due or which may thereafter become due to the Hirer and pay the same to the Council’s Caterer in satisfaction or partial satisfaction (as the case may be) of such difference.
 

21. Vacation of Hall

a) The Hirer shall ensure that the Hall is vacated by patrons of the hiring within 30 minutes of the end of the hiring and that all articles and equipment brought in by the Hirer for the hiring are removed within 1 hour of the end of the hiring or within such other time as shall be specified by the Manager.
b) The Manager reserves the right to detain equipment or articles brought into the Hall by the Hirer where that equipment or articles have been involved in an accident.
 

22. Right of access

a) The Manager, their staff, other Council Officers, Fire Officers or Police Officers shall have right of access to all parts of the Hall at any time throughout the hiring.
b) Free access must be permitted at Pittville Pump Room to persons wishing to obtain spa water from within the Hall, provided that such access would not in the opinion of the Manager be likely to cause undue disturbance or inconvenience to the Hirer.
 

23. Liability for loss or damage

a) The Council shall not be responsible for any loss or damage to any person or property arising out of the hiring or for any loss, damage or injury which may be incurred by or done or happen to the Hirer by any person or persons resorting to the premises during the hiring from any cause whatsoever, except to the extent that the same is due to any act or neglect of the Council, its employees, or any person for whom it is responsible.
b) The Council shall not be responsible for any loss due to any breakdown of machinery, failure of supply of electricity, leakage of water, fire, government restriction or Act of God, which may cause the Hall to be temporarily closed or the hiring to be interrupted or cancelled.
c) The Hirer shall be liable for, and indemnify the Council against, any expense, liability claim or proceedings whatsoever in respect of loss or damage to property arising out of or in the course of or caused by the hiring except to the extent that the same is due to any act or neglect of the Council, its employees or any person for whom it is responsible. Without prejudice to their liability to indemnify the Council the Hirer shall take out and maintain and shall cause any Sub-Contractor to take out and maintain sufficient insurance cover in respect of such risks to third parties and for personal injury to any of its employees as required by legislation.
d) The Manager shall, at their discretion, require the Hirer to produce evidence of current insurance cover at all material times as required by Condition 23(c) above, and in such amounts as may be deemed sufficient in the sole judgement of the Manager.
e) The Hirer shall repay to the Council on demand the cost of re-instating and replacing any part of the Hall, or any property in or upon the Hall which shall be damaged, destroyed, stolen or removed during the period of hire or prior or subsequent thereto if in relation to or by reason of the hiring. The amount of such cost shall be certified by the Manager whose certificate shall be final.