Compliance, Licensing & Safety

The council's handbook opens with a clear statement: "The organisation of a May Ball can be complex and time consuming." That's an understatement. Failure to comply with premises licence conditions can result in prosecution or licence review. This guide translates the handbook into actionable steps for your committee.

The council's organiser timetable

The handbook (Section 8) sets out a formal timetable of deadlines tied to your college's premises licence. Missing these isn't just bad practice — it can be a breach of your licence conditions.

Noise management — the biggest compliance risk

The handbook is unambiguous: "Noise has by far been the source of the greatest number of complaints over the years." The council actively monitors May Ball noise every night during the season, and complaint numbers have been rising due to what they describe as "poor line up planning and excessive acoustic instrument use (e.g. drums/brass) after midnight."

The 2025 licence change

In a significant shift (Section 4.12), colleges have been instructed to apply for premises licence variations moving from rigid per-venue dB limits to a risk-based noise assessment approach. This means:

• You submit a noise risk assessment 3 months before the event
• If significant impact is possible, you appoint a qualified noise consultant
• The consultant produces a Noise Management Plan (NMP) with proposed on/off-site Music Noise Level (MNL) limits, including low-frequency criteria (LCeq,T)
• Limits are agreed with the local authority and must be adhered to vigorously

Previous fixed noise limits (still used by some colleges)

Colleges that haven't applied for the variation may still operate under the older fixed limits:

• Main marquee: 80 dBLAeq (5 min), 85 dBL (max) before midnight; 75 dBLAeq (5 min), 80 dBLA (max) after midnight
• Disco/smaller marquee: 75 dBLAeq (5 min), 80 dBLA (max) throughout
• Measured 1 metre from marquee wall, or 3 metres from courtyard perimeter

Practical noise guidance from the handbook

• No acoustic drum kits after midnight — use electronic kits instead
• No brass-heavy bands after midnight — brass cannot be attenuated
• Headline acts should play early and finish by 1am at latest
• Full band amplification after 1am must be avoided
• Consider finishing all amplified outdoor music by 3am; after that, only background music inaudible outside the college curtilage
• The person playing music (DJ) must not have control over the max volume or graphic equaliser — a sound engineer must control these
• Use "flown" speakers (mounted in marquee roof, angled down) instead of stage-side speaker stacks to reduce breakout
• PA sizing rule of thumb: 1kW per 100 guests. A 400-person marquee needs no more than 4kW. 16kW systems are "wholly inappropriate for use in a marquee in the centre of the city at night"
• Volumes creep up during the night unless physically restricted — set limiters in advance and don't allow override
• Sound checking should account for the time of night the band will actually play
• Post official notices backstage: "Sound limits are imposed by the college's licence and will be strictly enforced at all times"

Monitoring responsibilities

Your designated noise person (who cannot be the sound engineer, stage manager, or entertainment agent) must:

• Be contactable by council officers throughout the night
• Have full authority to reduce levels or remove performers
• Patrol the college perimeter and visit nearby houses to assess noise
• Use a calibrated sound level meter (borrow from the council if needed)
• Be present from sound check through to the end of the event

Council officers will visit on the night, may make multiple visits, and have a legal right to enter the college that cannot be obstructed.

Security & drugs — good practice guidelines

Appendix 6 of the handbook contains police-issued good practice guidance:

• Entry searches: consent searches are lawful. State on tickets that search is a condition of entry. Use same-sex searchers.
• Amnesty box: place between the entrance and ticket check point. Secure it to a permanent structure (e.g. a post). This doubles as a sharps/weapons box. Supervised by a steward, removed by two witnesses.
• Zero tolerance policy: display notices that police will be called if drugs are found on a guest.
• If drugs are found: SIA security detain the person, police are called, a sequentially numbered incident report is completed, seized items go into a locked ballot-style box (padlocked, key held by college official), placed in tamper-evident bags, signed and sealed.
• End of night: police collect the box, opened in front of an officer and nominated committee member, checked against the incident log.
• Nominate a committee member specifically to handle drug-related incidents, with a separate room allocated for detaining individuals.
• Staff never handle items barehanded — use puncture-proof gloves or a "helping hand" pickup device.

Licensing

All colleges hold a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 that covers alcohol sale and regulated entertainment. Your ball operates under this licence, not a TEN (unless your college specifically requires one).

• Talk to the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) — usually the Bursar or Catering Manager — at an early stage
• Ensure all rooms and outdoor areas where entertainment or alcohol will be served are covered by the licence. If not, the college must apply for a variation with adequate processing time
• Every bar should be supervised by a Personal Licence Holder under the DPS's authorisation
• The DPS must prevent: disorderly conduct associated with alcohol, and supply of alcohol to intoxicated persons. Maximum fines are unlimited
• A senior member of college (not a student) must be designated as the responsible person for the entire event

Neighbour relations

Section 7 of the handbook describes this as "perhaps one of the most effective ways in which organisers can ensure that things run smoothly." Practical steps:

• Deliver a letter to nearby houses: when the ball is, when fireworks will happen, a contact number for the night
• Put the same information on the college website
• Back it up with polite, effective handling of any calls received by Porters
• Where residents know what's happening and can contact someone, "very few people feel the need to make an official complaint"

Why this connects to ticketing

The handbook makes clear that compliance is expensive and getting more complex. Noise consultants, professional sound management, fire risk assessments, first aid provision, and security all cost money. Every pound your committee loses to ticketing platform fees is a pound that can't go toward compliance, production, or guest experience.

MayBall.com charges zero platform fees. That budget headroom matters most where the compliance burden is heaviest. For a ball processing £200k+ in ticket sales, the saving compared to a 2.9% platform is over £5,000 — roughly the cost of a professional noise consultant for the season.

Useful contacts (from the handbook)

• Licensing & noise control: commercial@cambridge.gov.uk
• Food hygiene & health & safety: commercial@cambridge.gov.uk
• Waste services: trade@scambs.gov.uk
• Fire service: fireprotectionsouth@cambsfire.gov.uk
• Police (licensing): cambridgecitylicensing@cambs.pnn.police.uk
• Highways: Highway.Events@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Further reading

• Cambridge City Council May Ball Handbook 2026 (PDF)
• Cambridge City Council: May Balls page
• Cambridgeshire Fire & Rescue: May Ball fire safety guidance
• HSE: Event safety guidance
• Security, Access Control & Anti-Crashing guide
• VAT for May Ball Committees