About the licence
A Personal licence allows you to sell alcohol on behalf of any licensed premises in a similar way that a driving licence allows you to drive a car.
The personal licence is designed to ensure that anyone operating or managing a business that sells or supplies alcohol will do so in a professional fashion. Once you receive your personal licence, you can act as the designated premises supervisor for any business that sells or supplies alcohol. All premises licences from a home based online sales business to a large pub needs a DPS.
You do not have to hold a personal licence to be employed in a pub or other business that sells alcohol but it certainly does enhance your employment prospects. Premises licensed for the sale of alcohol must have a designated premises supervisor, who holds a personal licence.
Anyone who does not hold a personal licence must be authorised for all sales alcohol by a personal licence holder.
How do I apply for a Personal Licence?
To make a Personal Licence Application you have two choices.
You can allow Innpacked to complete the whole process (including personal licence training if required) on your behalf which is by far the quickest and easiest way by clicking the button below or you can follow the guidelines below.
There are 4 main elements to the application:
AGE
You must be aged 18 years or over:
Not a lot you can do about this one, you are or you’re not. Even we can’t help you with this one!
Accredited Qualification
You must obtain an accredited qualification.
The aim of the personal licence qualification is to ensure that licence holders are aware of licensing law and the wider social responsibilities involved in the sale of alcohol. Personal licence qualification providers are accredited by the Home Secretary.
There are various companies who deliver relevant qualifications throughout the UK, differing in size and quality. Here are some things that you should check before booking a course.
Confirm that your training course will run on the advertised dates and won’t be cancelled at the last minute.
If the course is A personal licence online qualification, ensure that it is accredited by an approved awarding body.
Are there any choices available as to where you sit your course and exam eg: at your own venue or e-assessment?
What is the training companies average pass rate?
Does the company offer re-sits if you fail?
Does the price of the training course include tutor fees, exam fees, certificate fees, and refreshments?
How long it will take for the training company to inform you of your exam result?
How long it will take the companies awarding body to produce the qualification certificate?
When will you receive your certificate?
Once you have passed your qualification you will receive an accredited certificate which you will need to enclose with your personal licence application, if the certificate is not received this will hold up your application.
Innpacked deliver the APLH Personal Licence course, at your venue, or online whichever way suits you best.
We can offer exam results within 48 hrs or on the same day in some cases.
We generally have your certificate available within 5 days.
Our public APLH course prices are all inclusive.
We can also complete your full personal licence application for you which means that the process is far quicker.
To find a personal licence course near you or a training package to suit you call Free phone 08000 786 056.
Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks (Personal Licence DBS)
You will also need to apply for a basic Criminal Records Bureau (CRB ) checks which are now called Disclosure and Barring Service ( DBS ) checks. This can be done by applying to Disclosure Scotland.
When applying you will need to supply two supporting documents, one showing your current address and one proving your identity.
- Driving Licence
- Passport
- Rental Agreement/Mortgage
- Current Bank Statement
- National Identity Card
- National Entitlement Card
General turnaround times from submitting your CRB application is 14 working days but we have heard horror stories of it taking up to a month and these times are subject to the application being completed properly and your identification being accepted.
At Innpacked we have an average turnaround time of 5 working days when we apply for clients CRBs on their behalf as part of our Personal Licence Application service. Click below for more info or call Free phone 08000 786 056.
UK right to work and Personal Licence Applications
Another important requirement of both a personal licence application and a premises licence application is that persons applying must have a right to work in the UK, evidence of which must be supplied with the application. Unfortunately if you fail to provide the necessary evidence your application will be rejected.
- Personal & premises licences cannot be issued to those disqualified by their immigration status.
- Licences issued on or after 6 April 2017 will lapse if the holder’s lawful leave or permission to work ends.
To read more download Prevention of illegal working from the home office.
Personal Licence Application
Once you have fulfilled all of the above you can complete your Personal Licence Application form. This can be obtained from your local council licensing department. Ensure that this is the local council where you live and not where you work.
There are two parts to the application.
Disclosure of convictions and declaration form – any relevant convictions or foreign offences, as detailed in Schedule 4 and Section 113 of the Licensing Act 2003, must be declared on this form.
Application for a personal licence – needs to be accurately complete in full otherwise it will be returned to you.
Once the above are completed you should send to the council along with:
Two passport size photographs – one of the photographs must be endorsed as a true likeness of the applicant by a solicitor or notary, a person of standing in the community or an individual with a professional qualification
CRB certificate
Accredited Qualification certificate
Correct fee – the fee for a personal licence application is £37 (by cheque)
Assuming that the application is completed and submitted correctly to the council it can take anything up to 3 months to process although each councils processing time is different.
We can speed the process up:
As a general rule because Innpacked submit CRB checks and applications on a daily basis, our average turnaround time is 3 weeks from exam to licence. If the council is late we chase up your application every day.
We will check all forms for you before submission
If you sit your qualification with Innpacked we can endorse your photographs.
You will have your own licence adviser from start to finish.
If you would like to find out more about the personal licence application process, full details can be found on the Governments information site.
If you would like to find out about our Personal Licence Application Service or just have a question. Give us a call on 08000 786 056 or contact us.
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