Personal licence
You will need a Personal Licence if:
- you are designated as the premises supervisor on a Premises Licence for a premises where alcohol is to be sold
- you want to sell alcohol under a Premises Licence or authorise others to sell alcohol under a Premises Licence
- you want to use more than five Temporary Event Notices in each calendar year
In order to be able to apply for a personal licence, a person must:
- be aged 18 or over;
- hold an accredited licensing qualification unless they are a member of the Company of the Master, Warden and Commonality of Vintners of the City of London;
- not have forfeited a personal licence within five years of their application;
- not have any unspent convictions for any relevant offences in England or Wales or for any foreign offences
The powers to regulate and issue licences are contained in the Licensing Act 2003.
Personal licences are designed to ensure that anybody running or managing a business that sells or supplies alcohol will do so professionally.
Your Personal Licence application will cost £37.
You will need to have attended a training course and obtained a licensing qualification in order to apply for a personal licence.
Visit the GOV.UK website to see accredited personal licence qualification providers
You must apply for a Personal Licence to the licensing authority for the area in which you live, rather than that in which you work.
Personal Licences become effective on the day they are granted.
To apply for a personal licence, download the following two forms from GOV.UK
You will need to send us the following by post:
- completed Personal Licence application form
- completed Personal disclosure and Declaration from
- two photographs of yourself, one of which must be endorsed: see Guidance for photos below for more information
- Share code or copy of your proof of entitlement to work in the UK
- DBS basic disclosure certificate – please note the Licensing Act 2003 states that the Disclosure must be issued no earlier than one calendar month before submitting the application to the licensing authority – applicants should apply for their criminal record check via the Disclosure and Barring Service website
- your licensing accredited qualification
- payment of £37 - please include a telephone number for an Officer to contact you for a card payment over the phone or provide an email address for a payment link
- Your application will have to be sent by post with the original basic disclosure certificate and licensing qualification. Both documents will be returned with the licence in the first class post.
Any person applying for a personal licence must provide proof that they are eligible to reside and work in the UK. Proof of residence is now a mandatory requirement for all new personal licence applications. If you fail to provide such documentation, then we will not begin processing your licence application until you do so.
It should also be noted that if a person ceases to have the right to live and work within the UK, that any personal licence issued will lapse. Therefore, it is incumbent on the applicant to ensure that any documents are supplied to us as soon as possible if their right to live and work in the UK expires midway through a licence period.
Your right to work will be checked as part of your personal licence application and this could involve us checking your immigration status with the Home Office. We may otherwise share information with the Home Office.
UK nationals will normally prove their right to work by providing a copy of their UK passport or their UK birth certificate together with an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency.
Irish citizens
Irish citizens continue to have unrestricted access to work in the UK. They can prove their right to work using their Irish passport or Irish passport card (in either case, whether current or expired), or their Irish birth or adoption certificate together with an official document giving the person's permanent National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer.
Irish citizens can also apply for a frontier worker permit.
This permit can be issued digitally or as a physical permit, so they can prove their right to work using the Home Office online right to work service.
EEA Citizens - EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
Since 1 July 2021, EEA citizens and their family members are required to have immigration status in the UK. They can no longer rely on an EEA passport or national identity card to prove their right to work. They are required to provide evidence of lawful immigration status in the UK, in the same way as other foreign nationals.
The majority of EEA citizens now prove their right to work using the Home Office online services.
If an EEA citizen has been granted 'Settled Status' by the Home Office, they will have a continuous right to work. If an EEA citizen has been granted 'Pre-Settled Status' by the Home Office, they will have a time-limited right to work.
Employing persons at licensed premises who do not have the right to work in the UK
It remains an offence to employ persons at a licensed premises who do not have the right to live or work in the UK.
You are required to provide two photos of yourself when you make a Personal Licence application.
The photographs must be 45mm high x 35mm wide (passport size).
Both of the photos must be signed, one by yourself the other by a counter-signatory to prove your identity.
Who can countersign my photos?
- The counter-signatory must hold a professional qualification.
- The counter-signatory may not be a spouse or relative.
- Licensees may not certify photos.
People with the following professions or persons of similar standing to these, working or retired, are acceptable as counter-signatories.
- Accountant
- Articled Clerk of a Limited Company
- Assurance Agent of Recognised Company
- Bank/Building Society Official
- Barrister
- Broker
- Chairman/Director of Limited Company
- Chemist
- Chiropodist
- Christian Science Practitioner
- Commissioner of Oaths
- Councillor: Local or County
- Civil Servant (permanent)
- Dentist
- 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/Personnel Officer (of Limited Company)
- Member of Parliament
- Merchant Navy Officer
- Minister of a recognised religion
- Nurse (SRN and SEN)
- 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/Secretary of a recognised organisation
- Salvation Army Officer
- Social Worker
- Solicitor
- Surveyor
- Teacher, Lecturer
- Trade Union Officer
- Travel Agency (Qualified)
- Valuers and auctioneers (fellow and associate members of the incorporated society)
- Warrant officers and Chief Petty Officers
Although the National Licence Certification for Personal Licence Holders (NLC) is classed as a professional qualification, licensees are not acceptable counter-signatories.
A licence will not be granted if the applicant has been convicted of any relevant offence. These are listed in the legislation: Relevant offences according to the Licensing Act 2003
Change of Name or Address form (Word document)