Terms and conditions

Definitions and Interpretation

The council – means Braintree District Council, Causeway House, Bocking End, Braintree Essex, CM7 9HB
The Hirer – means the person or organisation as set out on the Room Hire Booking Form.
The Premises – means Braintree Town Hall as set out in the Room Hire Booking Form

Booking

The hirer may submit a Room Hire Booking Form electronically or on paper.

Use of Premises

The Hirer shall not use the Premises for any purpose other than that described on the Room Hire Booking Form and shall not sub-hire or use the Premises or allow the Premises to be used for any unlawful purpose or in any unlawful way, nor do anything or bring onto the Premises anything which may endanger the same or render invalid any insurance policies in respect thereof nor allow the consumption of alcohol on the Premises without prior written permission of the Council.
The Hirer will have 15 minutes prior and after their allotted booking to set up and pack down. Any hirer that runs over the 15 minutes allocated time slot is liable to incur a charge.

• Opening hours – Monday to Thursday 9am – 10pm,
• Friday 9am – 5pm, Saturday and Sunday please telephone.
• Access before 9am and after 5pm by rear door only.

Licences

The Hirer shall be responsible for obtaining any licences and from completing any returns that may be required by the Performing Rights Society, Phonographic Performance Limited, The Copyright Licensing Agency Limited and all other similar bodies in connection with the hiring and the Hirer shall indemnify the Council against the consequences of the Hirer’s failure to do so.

Gaming, Betting and Lotteries

The hirer shall ensure that nothing is done on or in relation to the Premises in contravention of the law relating to gaming, betting and lotteries.

Public Safety Compliance

The Hirer shall comply with all conditions and regulations made in respect of the Premises by the Fire Authority or Local Authority.

Electrical Appliance Safety

The Hirer shall ensure that any electrical appliances brought by him to the Premises and used there shall be safe and in good working order, and used in a safe manner and have been tested in accordance with current safety testing requirements.

Alterations

The Hirer must not make any alterations to the premises or any part of the Town Hall without the Council’s prior written consent.

Food and Drink

The Hirer shall if preparing, serving or selling food will observe all relevant food and hygiene legislation and regulations.

If the hirer wishes to use caterers on the Premises during the event the Hirer must ensure that the caterers comply with all health and hygiene legislations and regulations. A copy of the caterer hygiene rating must be presented to the Town Hall prior to booking.

Animals

The Hirer shall ensure that no animals (including birds) except guide dogs are brought onto the Premises other that with the prior written consent of the Council.

General Regulations

The Hirer shall ensure that the following conditions are adhered to in full:

• Preparation may be applied to the floors.
• nothing to be attached to any wall throughout the building.
• no interference with any equipment, books or any other materials.
• no interference with the heating system.

Nuisance

The Hirer must not do or allow anyone attending their hiring to do anything on the Premises which is or may become a nuisance to the Council or other hirers or to the occupiers of adjoining or neighbouring premises. The Hirer shall be responsible for requiring any person causing such a nuisance to leave the Premises. It is the Hirer’s responsibility to ensure that the minimum noise is made on arrival and departure.

Children

The Hirer shall ensure that when hiring involves activities aimed predominantly at children, and /or the activity is positively supported by the school for the attendance of children, they have appropriate child protection policies and procedures in place.

When the Hirer wishes to use the Premises for a purpose that involves a regulated activity as described by the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 the Council will require the Hirer to provide evidence that the necessary D.B.S or any other appropriate checks have been carried out on all persons. The Council reserves that right to review child protection policies and procedures and to impose any additional requirement they consider appropriate in connection with the hiring. If for any reason the Council are not satisfied then they reserve the right to cancel any hiring and there shall be no liability to the Hirer other than to refund any of the Total Amount Due ( including any deposit paid).

Sale of Goods

The Hirer must not use the Premises for any auction sale, trade, business or manufacture without the written agreement of the Council for any illegal or immoral act or purpose and the Council reserves the right to cancel with immediate effect any hiring where such use is taking or is intended to take place without refund of the Total Amount Due Paid (including any deposit paid).

Unfit for use

The Council may cancel any hiring if the premises are rendered unfit or become unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances or are required for Council meetings or are required for use as a Polling Station for a Parliamentary or Local Government election or by-election and there shall be no liability to the Hirer other than to refund any of the Total Amount Due (including any deposit paid) for the cancelled hiring.

Refusal of Booking

The Council may cancel any hiring if in his opinion the hiring organisation for which the Premises are hired has racist policies, regardless of the stated reason for hiring the building. In such event the Council shall incur no liability to the Hirer whatsoever, other than the return of any of the Total Amount Due that has been paid by the Hirer in respect of such cancelled hiring.

End of Hire

The Hirer shall ensure that the Premises are vacated at the time specified on the Room Hire Booking Form under ‘Finish time of event’ and no later than 10pm. In the event that the Hirer and his party have not vacated the Premises by the time stated the Council shall at its discretion make an additional charge.

The Hirer shall be responsible for leaving the Premises and surrounding area in a clean and tidy condition and any contents temporarily removed from their usual positions properly replaces, if this condition has not complied with the Council shall at its discretion make an additional charge.

Payment and Total Amount Due

Billing for room hire and refreshments will occur at the end of the month of hire. All payments to be made at Causeway House by cash or card.

Insurance

During the period of hiring, the Hirer shall be responsible for all damages, losses, claims and costs arising out of their use of the Premises and shall indemnify the Council from and against any expense liability loss or claim or proceedings including claims for personal injury to or the death of any person whatsoever arising out of the course of or caused as a result of the hiring except where due to the negligence of the Council or their respective servants or agents.

Cancellation

To avoid a cancellation charge the Hirer must give the Council at least 14 days notice of its wish to cancel a booking.

If the Hirer cancels the booking without giving 14 days’ prior notice to the Council, the Council may as its sole discretion, invoice the Hirer for the full room hire charge.

Health & Safety

There is a current Town Hall risk assessment available on request
The Hirer acknowledges that he/she is familiar with the following:

• a) Fire alarm points
• b) Fire evacuation procedures, routes and assembly point
• c) Location of telephone(s)
• d) Location of first aid kit(s)
• e) Location of the accident reporting log

In accordance with the Premises; fire evacuation plan the Hirer is required to:

• a) Familiarise all participants with the position of a telephone, fire alarm points, fire evacuation routes, and fire assembly point.
• b) Ensure that all necessary arrangements have been made to evacuate all participants including wheelchair-bound participants from the building or to the fire refuge point.
• c) Comply with the internal reporting procedures of the Premises which the Council will inform the Hirer of on the date of hire.

There is a maximum weight limit of 120kg for chairs used in the Premises.

Data Protection

Personal data supplied on the Room Hire Booking Form will be held on computer and will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 for statistical analysis, management, planning and in the provision of services by the Council and its partners. Hirer’s data will not be used for any marketing purposes.

General Terms

If any provision of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall remain in force and effect, and such invalid or unenforceable provisions or portion thereof shall be deemed omitted.

No term of this agreement shall be enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by a person who is not a party to this agreement, but this does not affect any right or remedy of a third party which exists or is available apart from under that Act.

This Agreement will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of England and the English courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction with respect to any dispute arising under this agreement.

Privacy Notice

Why are we collecting your data?

Braintree District Council is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This notice is provided to clarify what information the council needs to collect, store and process when you hire a room at the Town Hall.

Braintree District Council is a data controller and all personal information held is processed in accordance with data protection legislation.

Categories of personal data

The council will process personal data which will be kept securely on our computer system. The data we hold about you will include:

• name, address and contact details such as phone number or email address
• photographs
• financial information to process invoices and payments
• ther relevant information such as speciasl requirements in relation to your booking

Purpose for processing

We will gather this information from you to allow us to process your booking form and provide you with suitable facilities in relation to your hire requirements (meetings, weddings, events, conferences, community groups, etc.) and to contact you in relation to the booking you have made.

Information will also be used for invoicing or processing refunds. We may also use your information for statistical purposes to provide reports on the use of the Town Hall and to help us monitor and develop our services. Any statistics will not include information that can be used to identify you. If you have provided your explicit consent by completing our photo consent form, photos will be used in marketing material, including social media, to promote room hire at the Town Hall and may also be used to publicise celebrations and events held at the Town Hall.

Lawful basis for processing personal data

The lawful bases for processing your personal data are as follows:

• Public Task – The collection and processing of your personal information is necessary to carry out the task of providing suitable facilities when hiring rooms at the Town Hall
• Consent - where you have provided your explicit consent to allow us to process your personal data

Providing accurate information

It is important that we hold accurate and up to date information about you. If any of your details change please tell us as soon as possible so that we can update our records.

CCTV

We operate CCTV in and around the Town Hall. The footage we record is used for the prevention and detection of crime and to protect public safety. Where fixed CCTV cameras are operating, there will be signs clearly displayed.

Sharing information

The personal information you provide will not be shared with any third party unless consent has been given by you. Your information will be shared with other departments in the Council namely the finance team who will use your information to process invoices and issue refunds.

We will not disclose any information to other organisations unless we have a legal duty to release information for the purposes of preventing and detecting fraud or crime.

The council will only retain your data for as long as necessary. Personal Information provided to us on any booking forms will be kept for a period of 2 years. After this time, your information will be securely destroyed.

Your rights

For further details on how we maintain the security of your personal information, your rights to access the information we hold on you, including correcting or removing your information, please refer to our privacy pages on our website.