Abolishing personal licence renewals - will it be done in time?

It has been reported that the Home Office indicated in a recent Institute of Licensing event that they are struggling to bring the relevant legislation into force in time to remove the requirement to renew personal licences.

The first tranche of personal licences were granted in February 2005 and so will expire in February 2015. As the law stands, renewals must be submitted between three and one months before the expiry date i.e. providing a two month window of opportunity to submit a valid renewal application. Accordingly, it would be expected that the abolition of personal licence renewals would be enacted no later than November 2014 to early January 2015.

Currently, the Deregulation Bill, Clause 54 of which seeks to abolish personal licence renewals, is being considered in the House of Lords, with several stages still being required before obtaining Royal Assent.

The point of concern is that the Clause 54 will need to be enacted by statutory instrument and the Home Office has been reported to anticipate this to occur in March / April 2015!

Clearly, this is an important issue for all personal licence holders who had their personal licences granted early in the licensing transition process in 2005. The Home Office is said to be considering solutions.

We will keep you updated.