Duties of a Personal Licence Holder

A Personal Licence will allow the holder to sell alcohol by retail or authorise the sale of alcohol from a licensed premise such as;

• Public House
• Off Licence
• Supermarket
• Night Club
• Hotel
• Guest House
• Casino
• Temporary Event
• Any premise where alcohol is sold for profit

A personal licence will also allow the holder to become the designated premises supervisor (DPS). There a currently two types of personal licence in force in the United Kingdom. A Scottish personal licence for Scotland which allow the retail sale of alcohol anywhere in Scotland, and a personal licence for England and Wales. A personal licence will be granted by a local Council's Licensing Authority or in Scotland a Licensing Board.

When you apply to a Licensing Authority or Licensing Board for a Personal Licence, your local Licensing Authority will license you to sell alcohol. The license issued is then valid for 10 years from the date of grant, renewal of a personal licence is back to the issuing Licensing Authority or Licensing Board.

A Personal Licence holder has a list of duties and responsibilities they must attend to, these are as follows;

Duties of a Personal Licence Holder in England and Wales
1. Change of Address
You must as soon as reasonably practical notify the Licensing Authority of any change to your name or address as stated in your personal Licence. Your licence must be returned with the notification and a new licence will be issued.
A fee of £10.50 is payable.
Note: Once granted, the issuing Council's Licensing Authority remains the relevant Licensing authority even though you may move out of the area or take employment elsewhere in England or Wales, this will apply for the renewal of your licence. Failure to notify a change of address is an offence. Please note a person commits an offence if he fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with this section.

2. Duty to produce licence
a) The Licensing Authority is required to update your personal licence whenever a change is required as a result of a notification from you or a court.

The licensing Authority may require you to produce your licence
within a period of 14 days. Failure to provide your licence to the Licensing Authority is an offence.
b) You must provide your personal licence for examination by a Constable or an authorised officer of the Licensing Authority whenever you are engaged in the supply or sale of alcohol. Failure to produce the licence for examination is an offence.

3. Theft, loss, etc of personal licence Where your personal licence has been lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed, you may apply to the licensing authority for a copy of the licence. A fee of £10.50 is payable for this service. If your licence is lost or stolen you must report it to the police.

4. Surrender of Licence
Should you wish to surrender your personal licence you must return the licence to the Licensing Authority (Local Council) together with a signed letter stating that you wish to surrender the licence.

5. Convictions after Grant of Licence
a) If you appear in court on a charge relating to a relevant offence, you must produce your licence to the court. If you cannot produce your licence, you must notify the court that you are a personal licence holder.

b) If you are informed that you have been granted a personal licence after
your first appearance in court, you must inform the court at the next hearing
that you are now a personal licence holder.
c) Where you have produced your licence to the court, or notified them of its existence, you must also notify the court at your next appearance, if any of the following events have occurred.

• You have made or withdrawn an application for renewal of your personal licence.
• You have surrendered your personal licence
• Your personal licence has been renewed
• Your personal licence has been revoked

d) If you are convicted of a relevant offence the court may order the forfeiture or suspension of your licence. The court will notify the Licensing Authority.
e) You are required to notify this Licensing Authority of any convictions for a relevant offence. The notification must provide the nature and date of conviction and the sentence imposed. Your personal licence must be returned with the notification. Failure to make this notification is an offence.

Duties of a Personal Licence Holder in Scotland

Changes in name or address

The holder of the licence is required by section 88 of the Act to notify the Licensing Board of any changes of name or address. These changes should be recorded by the Licensing Board and the procedure for this is set out in section 89 of the Act

2. Duty to produce licence

A Scottish Personal Licence Holder must produce his/her personal licence to a police officer or Licensing Standards Officer from a Licensing Board.

3. Theft, loss, etc of personal licence

A personal licence holder should inform the Licensing Board of any theft or loss of a personal licence.

5. Convictions after Grant of Licence

Under section 75 of the Licensing(Scotland)Act 2005; applicants are under a duty to notify the Licensing Board should they be convicted of a relevant or foreign offence during the application period. Should Boards receive such notifications they must suspend consideration of the application and notify the police of the conviction seeking either confirmation of the relevant or foreign offence or that no relevant or foreign offence has been committed. At this time should a relevant or foreign offence have been committed the chief constable may recommend refusal of the application. Licensing Boards must resume consideration of the application process and, in these circumstances, take the chief constable's recommendations into consideration when determining the application.

Licensing qualifications/training

176. Section 74(3) of the Act requires that to be eligible for a personal licence an applicant must hold a licensing qualification. Furthermore personal licence holders are required to undertake mandatory training every 5 years as set out in section 87 of the Act. Section 91 of the Act provides a power for Ministers to set out in regulations which qualifications are applicable.

Offences relating to drunkenness

It's a criminal offence for a personal licence holder to be drunk while on duty on licensed premises.