Licensed premises include any premises allowed to sell alcohol under a premises licence or club premises certificate. You don’t need a personal licence to sell alcohol under a temporary events notice or to be employed in a pub or other business that sells alcohol.
About the licence
A personal licence allows the holder to authorise sales of alcohol at a licensed premises and to be named as the Designated Premises Supervisor on a premises licence.
Once you receive your personal licence, you can act as the designated premises supervisor for any business that sells or supplies alcohol.
The Deregulation Act 2015 means that personal licences no longer need to be renewed. The licence will continue until it's either surrendered or revoked and the expiry date no longer applies. Your personal licence must always show your current address.
Who can apply
To apply for a personal licence, you must:
- be aged 18 years or over
- hold a relevant licensing qualification
Accredited personal licence qualification providers on GOV.UK.
Before you start
You'll need to provide:
- a copy of an acceptable document proving that you have the right to work in the UK
- 2 photographs, one of which is endorsed to be a true likeness of yourself by a solicitor or notary, a person of standing in the community or an individual with a professional qualification
- an approved licensing qualification certificate
- produce a current (less than 1 month old) DBS check
- have no relevant criminal convictions
- pay the required fee
Request a basic DBS check on GOV.UK.
Apply for a personal licence
To apply for a personal licence, please complete the following application forms:
- Personal licence application form (word 127 kb)
- Personal licence disclosure of convictions, penalties and declaration (word 187 kb)
- Personal licence photograph endorsement declaration (word 118 kb)
We aim to process your application within 40 days.
Updating your licence if you've changed your name or address
You must inform the council if you change your name or address. Failure to do so is an offence.
- Personal licence notification of change of details (word 100 kb)
You will need to enclose the following:
- both the paper part and the card part of your personal licence, or tell us why you are unable to do this
- the required fee
Notification of theft or loss of a personal licence
You must inform the council if your personal licence becomes lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed.
- Notification of loss of personal licence (word 99 kb)
A copy of the licence will be provided on receipt of the fee.
Designated premises supervisor (DPS)
A personal licence holder may give consent to become a Designated Premised Supervisor (DPS) for a licensed premises where the activity of supply of alcohol is authorised.
The DPS has a legal responsibility for authorising the sale of alcohol and will generally be responsible for the day to day running of the establishment and the court can forfeit their licence if they are convicted of any relevant offences.
It is worth ensuring that should the DPS not be present on the premises there is a clear management structure with which the staff are familiar.
- DPS consent form (word 67 kb)
- Vary DPS on a premises licence (word 180 kb)
- Disappy DPS form (word 125 kb)
- Request to be removed as DPS (word 102 kb)
More information about tacit consent can be found on our website.