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Licensing Act 2003 personal alcohol licence

If you need further guidance, please contact us on 01271 388870 or email customerservices@northdevon.gov.uk.

Licensing fees

Personal licence

A personal licence is required by an individual who may be engaged in making and authorising the sale and supply of alcohol. Not every person retailing alcohol at premises licensed for that purpose needs to hold a personal licence, but every sale or supply of alcohol must be at least authorised by such a licence holder.

Personal licences are valid for ten years unless surrendered, suspended, revoked or declared forfeit by the courts. Once granted, the licensing authority which issued the licence remains the 'relevant licensing authority' for it and its holder, even though the individual may move out of the area or take employment elsewhere.

An individual can only ever apply for/hold one personal licence at any time.

A personal licence holder may be absent at times from the premises when a transaction takes place. However, the responsible personal licence holder will not be able to escape responsibility for the actions of anyone authorised to make sales.

The responsible person in most instances will be the designated premises supervisor (they must hold a valid personal licence) and will have day-to-day control of the premises.

Designated premises supervisor (DPS)

A DPS is the personal licence holder named on a premises licence as responsible for authorising the supply of alcohol. This person must be readily identifiable and will have day to day responsibility for running a premises. The DPS will usually be the main point of contact for police/fire officers or offices of the licensing authority.

The details of the DPS must be displayed clearly at the premises as part of the premises licence summary

How do I apply?

Any applicant seeking the grant of a new personal licence must meet the following criteria:

must be aged 18 or over
possess a licensing qualification (see below) or is a person of a description prescribed by the Secretary of State by regulations
must not have forfeited a personal licence within five years of their application
provided a declaration (completion of a Disclosure of Convictions and Declaration form) that either they have not been convicted of a relevant offence or a foreign offence (see below)
provided a disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) or a police subject access check (see below)
paid the appropriate fee (see below)
provided 2 photographs of themselves (45mm x 35 mm), one of which is endorsed by an acceptable counter-signatory who will need to write the following on the back of one of the photographs:

‘I (name of counter-signatory) endorse this is a true likeness of (name of applicant)’. The counter-signatory should also give their job title and sign and date the photograph.'

(Photographs must be taken against a light background, full face uncovered unless religious belief and without sunglasses and be on photographic paper.)

North Devon Council considers the following counter-signatories as acceptable for the purposes of endorsing photographs as a true likeness of an applicant:

(It is recommended that the person countersigning the photograph has known the applicant for at least for two years and must not be a relative, partner, licensee or a person with a criminal conviction because of prejudicial interest.)

Accountant
Articled Clerk of a Limited Company
Assurance Agent of a Recognised Company
Bank or Building Society Official
Barrister
Broker
Chairman / Director of a Limited Company
Chemist
Chiropodist
Christian Science Practitioner
Civil Servant
Commissioner of Oaths
Dentist
District or County Councillor
Doctor
Engineer (with Professional Qualifications)
Fire Service Official
Funeral Director
Insurance Agent (Full time) of a Recognised Company
Journalist
Justice of the Peace
Legal Secretary (Members and Fellows of the Institute of Legal Secretaries)
Local Government Officer
Manager or Personnel Officer of a Limited Company
Member of Parliament
Merchant Navy Officer
Minister of Religion
Notary
Nurse (RGN)
Officer of the Armed Services (Active or Retired)
Optician
Person with Honours (e.g. OBE, MBE etc.)
Photographer (Professional)
Police Officer
Post Office Official
President or Secretary of a Recognised Organisation
Salvation Army Officer
Social Worker
Solicitor
Surveyor
Teacher or Lecturer
Trade Union Officer
Travel Agent (Qualified)
Valuers and Auctioneers (Fellow and Associate Members of the Incorporated Society)
Warrant Officers and Chief Petty Officers

Accredited qualifications

The Home Secretary has accredited the following personal licence qualifications under the Licensing Act 2003:

BIIAB (QCF Recognition number RN5118)
Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders

Qualification accreditation number 501/1494/3

Website: British Innkeeping Institute

Telephone: 01276 684 449

Email: qualifications@bii.org

Address: BIIAB, Wessex House, 80 Park Street, Camberley, Surrey, GU15 3PT

EDI (QCF Recognition number RN5134)
Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders

Qualification accreditation number 500/9146/3

Website: Education Development International

Telephone: 0247 651 6500

Email: enquires@ediplc.com

Address: Qualifications and processing centre, International House, Siskin Parkway East, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, CV3 4PE

HABC (QCF Recognition number RN5219)
Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders

Qualification accreditation number 500/9974/7

Website: Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance

Telephone: 0845 226 0350

Email: info@highfieldabc.com

Address: Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance Ltd, Highfield House, Sidings Court, Lakeside, Doncaster, DN4 5NL.

NCFE (QCF Recognition number RN5156)
Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders

Qualification accreditation number 600/1323/0

Website: ncfe

Telephone: 0191 239 8000

Email: info@ncfe.org.uk

Address: Citygate, St James’ Boulevard, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4JE

SQA (QCF Recognition number RN5167)
Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders

Qualification accreditation number 600/1269/9

Website: sqa

Telephone 0845 279 1000

E-mail: customer@sqa.org.uk

Address: The Optima Building, 58 Robertson Street Glasgow G2 8DQ

Please contact these bodies directly for information on courses, costs and availability in your area.

Disclosure

Production of one of the following which must be no older than one calendar month from the date of issue when submitting the application to North Devon Council:

a criminal conviction certificate issued under section 112 of the Police Act 1997(a) – “basic” disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau, inclusive of unspent convictions only
a criminal record certificate issued under section 113A of the Police Act 1997 – “standard” disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau, inclusive of details of spent and unspent convictions and cautions

This will cost approximately £25.00 and take some 14 days and can be obtained from:

Disclosure Scotland
PO Box 250
Glasgow
G51 1YU

Telephone: 0870 6096006

Email: info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

Website: www.disclosurescotland.co.uk

the results of a subject access search under the Data Protection Act 1998(b) of the Police National Computer by the National Identification Service.

This will cost approximately £10.00, can take up to 40 days and be obtained from:

Data Protection Office
Devon & Cornwall Police
Police Headquarters
Middlemore
Exeter
EX2 7HQ

Telephone: 01392 452675

Email: dataprotection@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk

Website: www.devon-cornwall.police.uk

Application process

On satisfactory completion of the required paperwork and receipt of the fee, the application will usually be granted within five working days, providing there is no declaration that the applicant has been convicted of any relevant or foreign offences.

However, should there be a declaration of offences, the licensing team has to send a copy of the application to the Chief Officer of Police, who has 14 days beginning with the day of receipt (usually the date received by the licensing team) in which to consider the application.

The Chief Officer of Police can either object to the application (Objection Notice), stating the reasons why or approve the application.

Where there is no objection, the licensing team must grant the application.

Objection notice and hearing

On receipt of an objection notice, the licensing team has 20 working days in which to hold a hearing to determine the application, unless the applicant, Chief Officer of Police and the licensing team agree that it is unnecessary.

If the applicant withdraws their application, a hearing will not be required.

Determination

On grant of an application, the licensing team will give the applicant and Chief Officer of Police a notice to that effect.

On refusal of an application, the licensing team will give the applicant and Chief Officer of Police a notice detailing the reasons for the rejection.

Duty to notify

The holder of a personal licence must notify the licensing team of any change of address, theft or loss (£10.50 fee), or of any relevant or foreign offences incurred during application/post-grant.

Failure to do so means the applicant/licence holder may incur a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

Application forms

Guidance information and leaflets

Personal Licences: Relevant Offences (pdf 191kb)
Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Subject Access Request

Fee

The fee for a personal licence is £37.00.

Contact details

Applications should be sent to:

The Licensing Team

Environmental Health and Housing

North Devon Council

Civic Centre

North Walk

Barnstaple

Devon

EX31 1EA

Applications can be handed to the Customer Service Centre or at the Ilfracombe Centre and the Amory Centre, South Molton.

In case of query, please telephone the Customer Service Centre on 01271 388870.

Email: licensing@northdevon.gov.uk

Please also see further contact details towards the bottom of this page.

Register

Current applications for the grant of a personal licence and those previously completed can be viewed on the Personal Licence Public Register.

Complaints

If you want to make a complaint about a licensed premises , please contact us. See also review of a premises licence.

If you feel we have failed to provide you with good service or are concerned about the progress of your application, please telephone the Customer Service Centre. The Licensing team will endeavour to resolve any concerns you may have.

The council also has a formal complaints procedure.