Scotland - 5 year Refresher training launched

The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 requires all Personal Licence holders to submit evidence of top-up training to their issuing Licensing Board at the midpoint (5 years) of the life of the personal licence.

 Yesterday, we attended the launch of the Training Standards for Alcohol Licensing in Scotland following the consultation by People 1^st as to what this training should constitute and how it was to be undertaken.

 It was confirmed that a formal qualification to be known as the 'Scottish Personal Licence Holder Refresher' will need to be undertaken and passed. The certificate will then have to be submitted to the relevant Board prior to the Personal Licence becoming 5 years and 3 months of age. If this is undertaken then the Personal Licence will continue to exist; failure has dire consequences as the personal licence will be revoked by the Board.

 The course content is prescribed and the delivery period is 3 hours followed by a 40 question multiple choice exam. Importantly for the licensed trade, the new qualification should be available from July 2013, which is well in advance of the refresher training deadline date for personal licences obtained during the 2009 transition period i.e. September 2014.

 Furthermore, with insight rarely seen in licensing, so as to avoid a glut of courses and problems as to availability of places in August and September of 2014, the course can be undertaken anytime with the certificate then submitted as and when appropriate to the individual in question. It was also confirmed that on renewal of the personal Licence (due after 10 years) the full SCPLH course and exam will have to be undertaken. To help Personal Licence holders calculate the date  their 5 year refresher training falls due and the date for retaking the SCPLH at the end of the 10 year period a website has been created by People 1^st which you can access at  here.

Should you wish to undertake the refresher course before the rush, we will be setting training dates as soon as the course content is approved and these will be posted on our website training section; to access link here.

 The consultation also reviewed the content of the SCPLH and has issued more details as to the content of the initial induction training (2 hours) which has to be undertaken by all staff before commencing work on licensed premises. If you require more details on either of these points, please contact Michelle Hazlewood or any member of our team.