Personal licence

Personal licences permit a person to authorise the supply of alcohol at premises licensed for that purpose.

Every premises where alcohol is sold (except under a Temporary Event Notice) must also have a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS), who must be the holder of a personal licence.

A person giving a Temporary Event Notice may authorise the sale of alcohol under their notice and will not need to hold a personal licence.

In exceptional circumstances, a Designated Premises Supervisor may not be required if a premises licence permits the sale of alcohol at a village hall or church hall. 

There is no limit to the number of personal licence holders who may work at a premises, although each individual may only hold 1 personal licence.

Apply for a new personal licence

You can apply for a personal licence on the GOV.UK website.

Your application must be made to the licensing authority (council) where you usually live, which may not be the licensing authority (council) for the area where you work.

Apply for a personal licence

You must hold an accredited licensing qualification and produce an original basic criminal record check dated no more than 1 month before the day on which the application is made.

The only valid qualification after 1 May 2011 is the Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH), although the Level 2 National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) obtained before that date will continue to be valid.

No other qualification is acceptable; in particular, licensing qualifications obtained before the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 are not valid; accredited personal licence qualification providers are listed on the GOV.UK website. 

A basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check can be obtained on the GOV.UK website. A fee is payable.

If you have a very recent (no more than 1 month old at the date of application) standard or enhanced criminal record disclosure from the DBS, this will be acceptable in support of your application. 
 

To make an application you will need:

• the completed licence application form
• a completed criminal record declaration
• 2 passport sized photographs, 1 endorsed 
• the fee of £37 (set by central government)
• the original criminal record disclosure (from the DBS) - no more than 1 month old
• the original qualification certificate (Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders) - this will be returned to you.

We will not be able to process your application until all the required documents have been received. If the documents are posted to us, please ensure that the correct postage is prepaid - we are unable to accept post with outstanding charges. Both the forms and the fees are set by central government. 

Applications must be returned to us with all required accompanying documents (including your original criminal record disclosure, qualification certificate, endorsed photographs and the fee) before your application can be processed.

Expiry of personal licences

Personal licences no longer expire after a given period. If you have a personal licence which shows an expiry date, you do not need to do anything to have it amended or the date removed; it simply continues to be in force. 

Change of name and address

If you change your name, address or any other detail shown on your licence, you must complete a change of name or address form (Word doc) [328KB]  and submit it by email to contact@chorley.gov.uk as soon as possible. Once submitted, you will need to call us on 01257 515151 to make payment of the prescribed £10.50 fee.

Personal licence holders also have a duty to notify us in writing if they have been convicted of a relevant or foreign offence. Relevant offences are listed in Schedule 4 to the Licensing Act 2003, as amended.

A failure by a personal licence holder to notify us of a change of name or address or of any relevant or foreign convictions is an offence, punishable on summary conviction, by a fine not exceeding £500.

Data protection

Please note that we may be required by law to disclose to the appropriate authorities, from time to time, further information relating to applications and licences for the purposes of law enforcement and the prevention of fraud.