Please note that this licence runs on a 3 yearly basis, which at present is 1st July 2024 to 30th June 2027. The application fee for a 3 year licence from 1st July 2024 is £617.
Completing your application
How to apply
Apply Online
You can also download the forms here:
Metal Dealer's Licence - Application for new licence
Metal Dealer's Licence - renewal
For a new grant application, a notice requires to be displayed on or near the premises (to allow passers-by to view) for 21 days. Once the notice has been displayed for this period, the certificate of compliance requires to be filled in accordingly and returned to the licensing office.
The information you have supplied on this form will be used for the purpose for which you have provided it, and appropriate measures are in place to protect your personal data. A full privacy notice, which provides information about your rights under current data protection legislation and details about what will happen to your personal data can be found here:
Applications must:
- contain the applicant's name and address
- and those of any employee who will manage the activity on a day-to-day basis
- the area in which the activity is to be carried out
- include the application fee
Detailed information of what should be submitted can be found in these guidance notes
Legislation regarding HMRC tax checks for licence applications.
Regulation Summary
A summary of the regulation relating to this licence
Schedule of conditions
A summary of the schedule of conditions relating to this licence
Fees
£617
Contact details
Telephone: 01546 604128 or licensing@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Argyll and Bute Council
Legal and Regulatory Support
Licensing Section
Kilmory
Lochgilphead
PA31 8RT
Eligibility criteria
A metal dealer’s licence shall, in addition to specifying the activities which the applicant engages in, specify the premises in or from which the activity is to be carried on.
In order to make an application you must not be disqualified from holding a licence, and you must be fit to be the holder of the licence.
The vehicle you use in order to carry out the work must be suitable for that purpose.
You must not have applied for the same licence within the last year, unless there has been a material change in your circumstances since your last application.
Metal Dealers – Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015
The Air Weapons and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2015 contains new provisions about licensing metal dealers, itinerant metal dealers and exemption warrants. These provisions come into force on 1st September 2016. Some businesses, which didn’t need a licence before, will now be included in the licensing requirements for the first time.
If you are applying for a metal dealer’s licence for the first time, due to the above changes, your application must have been submitted before 1st June 2016.
Exemption warrants, which previously meant a licence wasn’t needed, no longer exist. If you held an exemption warrant you must have lodged your application for a metal dealer’s licence before 1st June 2016 if you intend to deal in scrap metal after 1st September 2016.
The definition of metal dealers will now include “motor salvage operators”. These businesses will also have lodged their application for a licence before 1st June, if they intend to keep trading when the changes come in on 1st September.
From 1st September 2016 all metal dealers and itinerant metal dealers will be required to comply with detailed new rules. Paying cash for scrap metal will be prohibited. New record keeping and identification of customer requirements will also be in force. If you already hold a current metal dealer’s licence, you do not have to apply for a new licence. However you will be subject to the detailed new requirements. Full details of the legislation can be found at legislation.gov.uk
Further information is available from the licensing team – licensing@argyll-bute.gov.uk or 01546 604128.
The application process
We will:
- send a copy of the application to Police Scotland
- place a notice on the local authority office notice board which states the applicant details contained in the application, that any objections or representations may be made to ourselves, and how they should be made
- keep a register of applications in which we will enter the receipt of the application, our final decision and reasons for the decision, the details of the terms of each licence granted and a note of any suspension, variation of the terms, or surrender, of a licence
The register must be available for inspection by any member of the public at reasonable times and places and any member of the public must be allowed to make a copy of it. A fee will be required for this service.
Where we fail to make a decision within six months of the application, the licence is held to be granted or renewed.
Appeals
If you have made an application for a licence and it has been refused
You may ask us for the reasons for our decision to refuse your application within 21 days of the decision date.
You may appeal to the sheriff against the decision, within 28 days of the decision, as long as you have already followed any available procedure to state your case to ourselves.
The appeal will only be successful if the sheriff considers that we, in making our decision, had:
- erred in law
- based our decision on an incorrect material fact
- acted contrary to natural justice
- exercised our discretion in an unreasonable manner
You may then appeal on a point of law from the sheriff's decision to the Court of Session within 28 days from the date of the sheriff’s decision.
Appeals - Licence Holders
Appeals against the refusal of an application must be made to the Sheriff Principal of North Strathclyde, Paisley Sheriff Court, St James Street, Paisley, PA3 2AW.
You may appeal if we decide to suspend a licence, not to renew a licence, or not to consent to material changes to the premises or vehicle used in the course of a licence holder's work. You may appeal against the decision within 28 days of being notified, as long as you have already followed any available procedure to state your case to ourselves.
The appeal will only be successful if the sheriff considers that we, in making our decision, have:
- erred in law
- based our decision on an incorrect material fact
- acted contrary to natural justice
- exercised our discretion in an unreasonable manner
You may then appeal on a point of law from the sheriff's decision to the Court of Session within 28 days from the date of the sheriff’s decision.
Objections or representations
Objections or representations relating to a licence application may be made in writing to the licensing section, within 28 days of notice of the licence application being given, stating:
- the grounds of the objection or nature of the representation
- the name and address of the person making the representation
Police Scotland, or anyone who has made a relevant objection or representation regarding the licence, may appeal against a decision within 28 days of being notified, as long as they have already followed any available procedure in terms of stating their case to ourselves.
The appeal will only be successful if the sheriff considers that we, in making our decision, had:
- erred in law
- based our decision on an incorrect material fact
- acted contrary to natural justice
- exercised our discretion in an unreasonable manner
Trade Associations
Mechanical and Metal Trades Confederation (METCOM)