Licence summary         
This is a portable licence granted to an individual enabling him/her to sell alcohol at a premises licensed for the sale of alcohol. The licence's duration is ten years.

Eligibility Criteria          
Any individual aged 18 or over.

An applicant for a personal licence must hold a licensing qualification from an accredited trainer and must not have had a personal licence revoked in the preceding 5 years. 

Regulation Summary   
A summary of the regulation relating to this licence

Application Evaluation Process   
When applying for a licence, an individual must submit:

• An application form 
• Relevant qualification certificate
• 2 passport photographs endorsed (signed by a person of standing in the community)
• The appropriate fee of £50.00

A Licensing Board must give notice of an application for personal licence to the appropriate chief constable, who must within 21 days of the date of receipt of a notice respond to Licensing Board with any comments/observations if any. 

The application must be granted by the Licensing Board if the chief constable is not aware of the applicant being convicted of a relevant or foreign offence.  If however, the chief constable reports that the applicant has been convicted of a relevant or foreign offence, he may recommend refusal of the application.  The Licensing Board would have to hold a hearing in this case. 

Obligations of Personal Licence Holders

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 (Part 6) imposes certain obligations on Personal Licence Holders who have been charged with any relevant offence or who have been convicted of any relevant offence as follows:

• Where a Personal Licence Holder is charged with any relevant offence, that person is required to inform the court that they are a Personal Licence Holder; and
• If convicted of any relevant offence, the Personal Licence Holder must notify the licensing board within 30 days of the conviction.

Other obligations imposed on Personal Licence Holders include:

• To notify the licensing board of a change of name and/or address;
• To report the loss or theft of Personal licence; and
• While working on licensed premises to produce the Personal licence to a constable or Licensing Standards Officer for examination

For further information on the obligations of Personal Licence Holders or any other aspect of alcohol licensing, please contact your Licensing Standards Officer.

Will Tacit Consent Apply? 
No. It is in the public interest that the authority must process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from the local authority within a reasonable period, please contact it. You can do this online if you applied through the UK Welcomes service or use the contact details below.

Download an application form
Personal licence application form (docx, 26kb)

Failed Application Redress           
Please contact your Local Authority in the first instance.

Appeals against the refusal of an application must be made to the sheriff principal of the sheriffdom where the principal office of the Licensing Board is located.

Appeals can only be made under one of the following grounds:

• the Licensing Board erred in law
• the decision was based on incorrect material facts
• the Licensing Board acted contrary to natural justice
• the Licensing Board used their discretion in an unreasonable manner

If any of the following steps were taken and are disproportionate, that is that at a review hearing of a premises licence the licence was suspended, varied or revoked or the licence holder was given a written warning or that a personal licence was revoked, suspended or endorsed.

Licence Holder Redress    
Please contact your Local Authority in the first instance.

Consumer Complaint         
We would always advise that in the event of a complaint the first contact is made with the trader by you - preferably in the form a letter (with proof of delivery). If that has not worked, if you are located in the UK, Consumer Direct will give you advice. From outside the UK contact the UK European Consumer Centre.

Any person may apply to the Licensing Board for a review of the licence. Grounds for review are that one or more of the conditions have been breached or for any other ground relevant to the licensing objectives. A hearing must be held in relation to the application.

Other Redress         
If felt necessary a chief constable can recommend that the application is refused on the grounds that any criminal conviction could be cause to refuse the application for the purposes of crime prevention objectives. This must be served by way of a notice with 21 days of receiving notice from the Licensing Authority. A chief constable can only object if they suspect that the applicant or any connected person may be involved in serious organised crime.

Any person may object to an application or make representations in support of an application, modifications to application or conditions to be added to a licence, by way of a notice to the Licensing Board.

Any person may apply to the Licensing Board for a review of the licence. Grounds for review are that one or more of the conditions have been breached or for any other ground relevant to the licensing objectives. A hearing must be held in relation to the application.

Payment Details

The fee is £50 and this should be paid by cheque, made payable to Argyll & Bute Council. Alternatively, you can phone us on the number below and pay by credit/debit card.

Contact Details for the Customer to use

Please contact Kelly Coffield on 01546 604355 or on email at licensing@argyll-bute.gov.uk

Argyll and Bute Council
Governance & Law
Licensing Section
Kilmory
Lochgilphead
PA31 8RT