How to apply to be a personal licence holder
Personal licence holder
Personal licence holders may authorise the sale of alcohol at licensed premises and may also be employed as the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) at such premises.
To be able to apply for a personal licence you must fulfil the following criteria:
- be aged 18 years or over
- not have forfeited a personal licence in the last five years
- not been convicted of any relevant offence or foreign offence
- have passed an accredited qualification
How to apply
You can apply for a personal licence online.
To apply for a personal licence you need:
- to permanently reside at the time of application within the authority area
- the completed application form and disclosure of convictions and declaration form
- two passport sized photos, one of which must be endorsed as a true likeness
- licensing qualification certificate (details of where to obtain this qualification can be found in the guidance notes at the bottom of this page)
- a basic disclosure from the GOV.UK website (when received, send in the basic disclosure to us)
- the fee of £37
Please note that if a personal cheque is received for payment, we can advise you of your licence number, however we are unable to issue the licence until a period of three weeks has passed to allow for cheque clearance.
Relevant or foreign offences
If you have any convictions for any relevant or foreign offences, then we will give a notice to the Chief Officer of Police. If the police make no objections within the statutory 14 day period, we will grant your licence.
Criminal Records Bureau Check
Important Note: When applying for a personal licence you must submit a Disclosure Certificate of Criminal Convictions, which must not be more than one month old.
Your personal licence application must be accompanied by either:
- a criminal conviction certificate issued under section 112 of the Police Act 1997;
- a criminal record certificate issued under section 113A of the Police of the Police Act 1997; or
- the results of a subject access search under the Data Protection Act 1998 of the Police National Computer by the National Identification Service.
Item (1) above is a Basic Disclosure and can be obtained from GOV.UK.
You can visit the GOV.UK website, or telephone them on 03000 200190.
Alternatively items (2) or (3) will be accepted providing they are not older than one calendar month.
Personal licences are valid indefinitely, unless forfeited, suspended, revoked or surrendered.
Change of address
If you change your address, please complete our change of name and/or address form.
Report a change of name or address
Replacement licence
If you have loss or your licence has been stolen or change your address, please complete our replacement form.
Request a replacement licence due to loss/stolen
Further information
If you have any further queries or require further information please contact us. Our contact details are at the bottom of this page.
Policy information
Under the Licensing Act 2003 all licensing authorities throughout England and Wales have to review their Statement of Licensing Policy each five year period. Our current Statement of Licensing Policy commenced from 14 January 2021.