Personal licence

Find out how to apply for a personal licence under the Licensing Act 2003.

Venues and properties cannot sell alcohol under a premises licence unless there is a designated premises supervisor (DPS) named on the licence. You'll need a personal licence to be a designated premises supervisor.

A personal licence allows you to authorise the sale or supply of alcohol in a venue or property which has a premises licence.

Personal licences are issued by the local authority of the applicant's home address. Once issued, they do not expire.

A personal licence holder can authorise up to 50 temporary event notices in each calendar year. This is subject to certain restrictions. Non-personal licence holders can only authorise up to five notices.

Personal licences are portable. A licence holder can authorise sales of alcohol in all venues with a premises licence throughout England and Wales.

How to qualify for a personal licence

Before you can apply for a new personal licence, you'll need to go on a course to achieve the recognised licensing qualification. The aim of the qualification is to make sure you are aware of licensing law and the wider social responsibilities attached to the sale of alcohol.

You can find out which qualifications are recognised on the GOV.UK website.

The British Institute of Innkeeping website has helpful information about the qualifications.

See below for further details on the personal licence application form.

How to apply for a new personal licence

To apply for a personal licence you need to submit a completed application form (see below) together with the following documents:

your original licensing qualification certificate (this will be returned to you)
the results of a basic disclosure or a criminal record check (this should be no more than one month old when your application is submitted)
a fee of £37 (please ensure that you provide a contact number for a member of our team to call to take payment by debit or credit card. We do not accept cheques)
two passport-sized photographs, one of which should be endorsed on the reverse as a true likeness of yourself (see below for photograph requirements). Your countersignatory can be anyone who is able to sign a passport application. Your countersignatory should not be related to you by birth or marriage, be in a personal relationship with you or live at the same address as you. We do not accept scanned copies.
Proof of entitlement to work in the UK. Please see the guidance below for a list of accepted documentation (copies accepted). These documents do not need to be certified.

Send your application form and supporting documents to the contact details at the bottom of this page.

If you would like a hard copy of the application pack sent to you in the post please contact us and we will be happy to help.

Reporting a change in details for a personal licence holder or the premises

If there are changes to any of the following, you need to complete and send in the change of details duplicate licence form (below):

name of a premises
address of premises licence holder
address of designated premises supervisor
address of personal licence holder
name of personal licence holder.

How to renew your personal licence

You no longer need to renew personal licences under law (as of April 2015) so all licences issued will no longer expire.

If you require a duplicate licence without an expiry date then you will need to apply for a replacement licence for a fee of £10.50. Please download the change of details duplicate licence form and send it to the contact details below.