Personal Licensing

To apply for a personal licence the applicant must:

• Be aged 18 or over
• Hold an accredited qualification, such as the APLH
• Have not forfeited a personal licence in the preceding 5 years

If you meet these 3 criteria you may apply for a personal licence.

If you have an ‘unspent’ conviction for a ‘relevant’ offence you must declare this during the application process. Not all convictions are ‘relevant’ and even if your conviction is ‘relevant’, depending on the sentence received, it may be deemed as ‘spent’.

Any conviction involving violence is classed as a relevant offence for the purposes of a Personal Licence application

If you only received a fine then this should have been spent from your criminal record one year from the date of conviction.  It does not need to be disclosed if it is spent from your record. 

If this is still on your criminal record, this does not mean that you cannot obtain a personal licence however it will need to be disclosed as part of your application in which case the Police have the discretion to object to your Personal Licence application should they so wish – they do not have to do so.  If the Police were to object a hearing would take place before your local Licensing Committee who would decide whether the granting of a licence to you would seriously undermine the crime and disorder objective

To apply for a personal licence the applicant must:

• Be aged 18 or over
• Hold an accredited qualification, such as the APLH
• Have not forfeited a personal licence in the preceding 5 years

If you passed the Award for Personal Licence Holders exam, the qualification does not expire so you will be able to apply for your personal licence.

As long as you are also over the age of 18 years and have not forfeited a personal licence in the preceding 5 years you can start your application for a personal licence.

You need to contact your personal licence issuing authority to request a duplicate personal licence and pay a fee of £10.50.

It is a legal requirement that your address is up to date and you will need to get this updated as soon as reasonably practicable. You would need to contact your personal licence issuing authority to request an address update on your personal licence and pay a fee of £10.50 (in England & Wales).

For Scottish personal licence holders the fee to update your licence can vary and is set by the relevant Board.

To get a personal licence you need to meet the following criteria:

• Be aged 18 or over
• Hold an accredited qualification, such as the Award for Personal Licence Holders or the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders
• Have not forfeited a personal licence in the preceding 5 years

If you meet the above criteria, you then need to apply to the local Licensing Authority where you live. More information can be found in the Personal Licence section of our website.

Please note that if you have an ‘unspent’ conviction for a ‘relevant’ offence, this may impact on your personal licence application. For more information, please ring us on 0114 266 8664 for more advice.

As a Personal Licence Holder charged with an offence, you are likely to be required to produce to the Court your Personal Licence at your first appearance or if that is not practical, notify the Court of the existence of your Personal Licence and explain why you cannot produce the Licence.

This obligation arises where you are charged with a "relevant offence". "Relevant offences" are defined and include any licensing offence, various road traffic offences and most other serious offences. Failure to notify the Court of your personal licence if you are charged with a relevant offence is a criminal offence.

For Applicants in England & Wales, the National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) was replaced by the Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) in 2011.

However your NCPLH qualification is still valid and can be used to apply for your personal licence. We are aware that some Licensing Authorities do not like to accept the NCPLH certificate, but technically this is still valid and you are not required to take the APLH course as well.

If you do have any issues in using an NCPLH qualification when applying for your personal licence, please get in touch and we will be happy to assist.

In England & Wales in order to apply for a personal licence, you must:

• Be aged 18 or over
• Hold an accredited qualification, such as the APLH
• Have not forfeited a personal licence in the preceding 5 years

If they meet these 3 criteria you may apply for a personal licence now.

If they have an ‘unspent’ conviction (a Police Caution or on the spot penalty fine is not classified as a conviction) for a ‘relevant’ offence you must declare this during the application process.  Having a conviction does not mean that they cannot obtain a personal licence however the Police have the option to object to the grant of your licence.  If the Police were to object a hearing would take place before your local Licensing Committee who would decide whether the granting of a licence to you would seriously undermine the crime and disorder objective.

For England and Wales, an offence is relevant if it is listed in Schedule 4 (as amended) of the Licensing Act 2003.  Offences involving dishonesty, theft, violence or alcohol specifically, including any offence under the Licensing Act itself are the type of offences included.

As a Personal Licence Holder charged with an offence, you are likely to be required to produce to the Court your Personal Licence at your first appearance or if that is not practical, notify the Court of the existence of your Personal Licence and explain why you cannot produce the Licence.

This obligation arises where you are charged with a "relevant offence". "Relevant offences" are defined and include any licensing offence, various road traffic offences and most other serious offences. You may seek legal advice on whether specific offences are 'Relevant offences".