Personal Licence to Sell Alcohol – FAQs

A personal licence allows the holder to sell or supervise the sale of alcohol for consumption on or off any premises covered by a premises licence, in a comparable way to a driving licence allowing the holder to legally drive a car. The Licensing Act 2003 system replaced the previous ‘fit and proper person’ test which was previously used, with a requirement to possess an accredited  licensing qualification (APLH) which is set out in regulations made by the Secretary of State. The personal licence qualification was introduced to law to help raise professional standards across the hospitality industry.

You must be aged 18 or over
You must not have had a personal licence forfeited within the period of five years before making the application
You must possesses an accredited licensing qualification,
You must not been convicted of any relevant or foreign offence

If you fulfil all of these criteria, the licence will be granted

The Licensing Act 2003  states that you must hold a relevant licensing qualification – for example, the BIIAB Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders or a similar accredited qualification before you can make an application for a personal licence.

APLH Personal licence qualification providers are accredited by the Home Secretary. Here at Innpacked we use both the BIIAB (British Institute of Innkeeping Awarding Body) and HABC (Highfields Awarding Body for Compliance) to supply our APLH qualifications.

You must submit a personal licence application form to the relevant licensing authority. Within the form you will be required to  provide certain details about yourself, and also documents such as photographs and the fee for the application. You will be asked for details of any relevant or foreign offences for which you have been convicted.  Once received, the licensing authority will process your application. If you have any convictions for any relevant or foreign offences, the licensing authority is required to give a notice to the chief officer of police for the area. The police have 14 days to make any objections to your application. If they make no objections within the 14 day period, the licence must be granted.

Yes. Innpacked can take care of your personal licence application process for you. We will process the whole application from the APLH course to DBS check and submit your full application to the relevant authority. You don’t have to take the APLH qualification with Innpacked for us to process your personal licence application.

A Personal Licence is valid from the date it is issued and has no renewal date as it is valid indefinitely unless it is revoked or suspended by the Licensing Authority.

If a Personal Licence Holder is convicted of a relevant offence or is fined for an immigration penalty, the Licensing Authority can revoke the personal licence or suspend it for a period not exceeding six months.

If the Licensing Authority intends to undertake revocation proceedings, they are required to give at least 28 days notice to the Personal Licence Holder, who will then have that period to make representations. The matter will be determined “behind closed doors.”

Licence holders must inform the Licensing Authority of any change to their name or address or any conviction for a relevant or foreign offence.

Yes, you must tell the Licensing Authority that issued your Person Licence

No you don’t. That said, if you do not have a personal licence then you have to be authorised by a personal licence holder to sell alcohol.

If you are under 18 years of age.
If you don’t hold an accredited qualification such as the Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) -England and Wales or the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (SCPLH) -Scotland.
If you have an unspent criminal conviction
If you have forfeited a personal licence (having it revoked) in the past 5 years.

If an applicant for a Personal Licence has unspent ‘relevant offences‘ or ‘foreign offences‘, the licensing authority must consult the the local police. In most cases the police will object and in 99.9% of cases the licence will not be granted. An offence is ‘spent‘ after a period of time – 5, 7 or 10 years depending on seriousness.

A drink driving offence is a ‘relevant offence‘ and if it is unspent the police will object to your application. The police will also object to your licence application if you have received a caution for nya relevant offence.

No you don’t, but you must keep your licence safe just in case the police or a licensing authority official wishes to examine it.