Personal licence

You can apply to the Angus Licensing Board for a Personal Licence if you are aged 18 or over and live:

• in Angus
• outside Scotland

To apply you must:

• be aged 18 or over
• have a licensing qualification
• not have had a Personal Licence revoked (except for failure to submit evidence of refresher training) in the previous five years
• not hold a personal licence with another Scottish Local Authority

The licensing board will check with the chief constable, and the licensing standards officer as part of their consideration. Where concerns have been raised, the board may hold a hearing to determine whether to grant the licence.

To apply, you should complete the Personal Licence Application Form (60 KB PDF) (Opens in a new window) and submit it with:

• two photographs one of which must be dated and have on the back of it a statement by a person appearing to the licensing board to be a person of standing in the community, with the words, “I certify that this is a true likeness of ( name of applicant)”, followed by the full name and designation of the person endorsing the photograph
• your Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders
• the fee

Once we’ve received your application form, it will be processed and a copy sent to Police Scotland who must respond to the licensing board within 21 days of its receipt. A copy will also be sent to the licensing standards officer who may respond within 21 days providing any information relevant to your application.

If a notice is received specifying any relevant convictions or information then your application will have to be determined at a meeting of the board.

A report collating the responses will be prepared and you will be sent a copy of that and advised of the date and time of the meeting. It is important you attend the meeting to answer any questions which may arise.

The Scottish Government has confirmed that it will not introduce the requirement to declare spent convictions until after 1 September 2019.

If you have been given notice of the meeting and you fail to attend the board may proceed to deal with the application in your absence. 

You may wish to obtain independent legal advice on completing the application.

If you are a designated premises manager and have held your personal licence since 1 September 2009 or before, you may also find it useful to seek independent legal advice.

Premises Licence holders will want to check whether the designated premises manager is likely to be affected by these requirements, and to ensure that necessary action is taken. Failure to take action places the premises licence at real risk of loss.

You have a right of appeal to the Sheriff Court Scot Courts if your application for a personal licence is refused and you can consult your own legal representative for further information about how to appeal.

There are no conditions attached to a Personal Licence. However licence holders must undertake refresher training every five years and meet the following requirements:

• you must notify the board within one month of a change of name or address
• you must notify any court that you are a personal licence holder on your first appearance if you are charged with a relevant offence
• you must notify the board of a conviction of a relevant or foreign offence no later than one month after the date of conviction

The nine month window to apply to renew your personal licence runs from twelve months before your personal licence expires, the absolute deadline for submitting a Personal Licence Renewal Application is three months before the expiry date.

If you apply for renewal of your Personal Licence in the three months before expiry – you will have left it too late, and the licensing board will not be able to renew your licence.

Licensing boards only have a narrow window to consider applications. If a lot of applications come in at the last minute then yours may not be approved in time and will be lost.

If you do not undergo refresher training AND provide the updated new certificate while renewing your Personal Licence in time, your Personal Licence will expire on the expiry date.

If your Personal Licence expires you will need to submit a brand new licence application which could take several weeks or months to process. Where a Personal Licence has expired or been surrendered within the previous three years and you have had to apply for a new Personal Licence then the licensing board may hold a hearing.

Licensing boards have a legal obligation to write to Personal Licence holders prior to the renewal/refresher deadline. However, as a Personal Licence holder it is entirely up to you to ensure you do the training and submit the renewal application. Not receiving the licensing board’s letter will not be accepted as a valid excuse.

You should complete a Personal Licence Renewal Application and send with your Personal Licence, together with the refresher training certificate, the fee, and your photographs, to the licensing board which issued your licence. It is recommended that you send it recorded delivery.

It doesn't matter if you work in a different licensing board area since the licence was first issued – you should send it to the board which issued the licence.

If you have moved home since the Personal Licence was issued and the address is out of date, you have a legal obligation to inform the licensing board which issued the licence.

A Personal Licence holder must undertake refresher training every five years. Boards have no discretion and won’t be able to renew your licence unless you provide suitable evidence of training.

It is recommended that you book a place on the refresher training in good time to complete the training ahead of the five year deadline and the deadline for submitting renewal applications. Remember that training bodies may take some time to produce your training certificate and you cannot complete the renewal and refresher process without it.

The current available half day refresher training course is the appropriate course to take for both the requirement to undertake updated refresher training after 5 years and the requirement to apply to renew your licence.

The course takes a half day to complete, and covers a range of subjects such as:

• the licensing objectives
• the responsibilities and duties of a Personal Licence holder
• the law relating to alcohol sales for anyone aged under 18
• proof of age schemes
• irresponsible promotions
• licensing hours
• the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 as amended
• offences under licensing legislation.

At the end of the training, you will take a one hour exam that you must pass. The exam consists of 40 multiple choice questions and you must correctly answer at least 28 to pass. Further details on the nature of the course will be provided to you by the training centre you book with.

Specific detail of each course is down to the individual awarding bodies to design and deliver, so long as they meet the terms of the specification set out by the Scottish Government.

Once you have undertaken and submitted your refresher training certificate, you will not need to do another course for five years, even if the course is updated during that period. However, you may wish to do so as a matter of best practice.

The legislation currently sets out that evidence of refresher training can only be the half day refresher course.

Work is currently underway to update both the full day and half day refresher course to ensure they reflect changes to alcohol licensing over the last five years.

You do not need to wait for the new course to be released before sitting your training – the existing training courses are acceptable. Once the updated training course is available, licensing boards should continue to accept certificates of the previous version for a grace-period before requiring all applicants to have sat the up to date version. Further details will be provided on this when new courses roll out.

The Scottish Government will provide a list of training providers on its website (Opens in a new window) however additional training providers are likely to be available.

If a designated premises manager’s (a person named on a licence as the day to day manager) Personal Licence ceases to have effect, notice must be given to the relevant licensing board by the Premises Licence holder (rather than the outgoing designated premises manager) within seven days. This activates a six week window where alcohol can still be sold to allow time for another person with a valid licence to be named.

If notice is not given by the premises licence holder within seven days, alcohol sales must stop until a new premises manager with a valid Personal Licence is named. If the six week period passes with no new manager being named, then alcohol sales must stop until such time as a new manager with a valid Personal Licence is named.

If this affects you, you are strongly advised to seek independent legal advice.

You will not be able to:

• train staff
• authorise alcohol sales
• apply for occasional licences
• be named as a premises manager (DPM)
• appeal

If you do not submit EITHER your Personal Licence application OR refresher training award certificate on time, your Personal Licence will cease to have effect.

Only a person who holds a valid Personal Licence can be named as a premise’s manager.

If your Personal Licence ceases to have effect, then your name is also taken off the premises licence.

A notification of this must be given by the Premises Licence holder to the relevant licensing board within seven days or alcohol sales must cease. A minor variation application naming a new manager (who must hold a valid personal licence) must be lodged within six weeks of the premises manager losing their Personal Licence.

If a designated premises manager’s (a person named on a licence as the day to day manager) Personal Licence ceases to have effect, notice must be given to the relevant licensing board by the Premises Licence holder (rather than the outgoing designated premises manager) within seven days. This activates a six week window where alcohol can still be sold to allow time for another person with a valid licence to be named.

If notice is not given by the premises licence holder within seven days, alcohol sales must stop until a new premises manager with a valid Personal Licence is named. If the six week period passes with no new manager being named, then alcohol sales must stop until such time as a new manager with a valid Personal Licence is named.

If this affects you, you are strongly advised to seek independent legal advice.

You will not be able to:

• train staff
• authorise alcohol sales
• apply for occasional licences
• be named as a premises manager (DPM)
• appeal

If you do not submit EITHER your Personal Licence application OR refresher training award certificate on time, your Personal Licence will cease to have effect.

Only a person who holds a valid Personal Licence can be named as a premise’s manager.

If your Personal Licence ceases to have effect, then your name is also taken off the premises licence.

A notification of this must be given by the Premises Licence holder to the relevant licensing board within seven days or alcohol sales must cease. A minor variation application naming a new manager (who must hold a valid personal licence) must be lodged within six weeks of the premises manager losing their Personal Licence.

If your Personal Licence was issued on or before 1 September 2009 you need to do your refresher training and apply to renew your Personal Licence as soon as possible.

Key dates:

• 31 August 2018 – Personal Licence holders can apply to renew their Personal Licence.
• 31 May 2019 – absolute deadline for submitting your Personal Licence renewal application, but if you leave it this late you risk losing your licence.
• 1 September 2019 – expiry date for Personal Licences granted up to 1 September 2009.

Any Personal Licences issued after 1 September 2009 will have their own 10 year deadline based on the date the licence was granted.

For example if your Personal Licence was issued on 1 October 2009, then the licence will expire on 30 September 2019 you must therefore complete your refresher training and apply to renew your licence no later than 30 June 2019.

If your Personal Licence has been lost or stolen, you should report its loss to Police Scotland and obtain a reference number. You must then give this number to the licensing board as soon as possible. The board may charge you an additional fee for a duplicate of the lost licence.

If your licence has been damaged or destroyed you should apply to the licensing board which issued it for a replacement.

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