When selling alcohol on licensed premises, the sale must be authorised by a personal licence holder. A personal licence allows you to supervise or authorise the sale of alcohol.
All premises which sell alcohol must have a designated premises manager. If you are the Designated Premises Manager of a licensed premises, you must have a Personal Licence. Other staff can hold personal licenses so alcohol sales can be authorised while the premises manager is not there.
You can only have one personal licence at a time and you must:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Have an accredited licensing qualification
- Not have had a personal licence revoked within the past 5 years
A personal licence lasts for 10 years and you must attend refresher training every 5 years.
To get a personal licence you must apply to the Licensing Board in the area where you live - even if you work outside of the Falkirk Council area. You must tell the
Licensing Board in the area where you work you hold a personal licence.
You can apply to any Licensing Board if you live outside of Scotland.
Once your licence has been issued, you must tell us if you change your name or address. This must be done no later than a month after the change. It is an offence not to tell us this information.
You will also commit an offence if you do not tell us if you are convicted of a relevant offence.
Personal licenses issued in England or Wales cannot be transferred to Scotland. Similarly, personal licences issued in Scotland can not be transferred to England or Wales.
Fees and charges are set by the Scottish Government.
How to apply
The personal licence application forms are available for download:
- Downloads
-
Application form for new and renewal applicants
DOCX file, 43.4 KB
- Downloads
-
Application for removal of endorsement
DOCX file, 33.1 KB
- Downloads
-
Change of address form
DOCX file, 28 KB
- Downloads
-
Change of name form
DOCX file, 26.3 KB
- Downloads
-
Replacement licence request form
DOCX file, 34.9 KB
You can download the guidance notes to help you fill out the forms:
- Downloads
-
Guidance notes
DOCX file, 25.7 KB
You can also ask for these forms by emailing licensing@falkirk.gov.uk.
If you would like further information about personal licences, you can read the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Personal Licence (Scotland) Regulations 2007.
Renewal of your Personal Licence
You must apply to renew your personal licence every 10 years. We will write to you to remind you of this so it is essential that you advise the Board if you move house.
Your renewal application must be made no later than 3 months before the expiry date of the licence. Failure to adhere to this timescale may result in your personal licence expiring on the expiry date and it will no longer be a valid licence. If your personal licence expires you will need to submit a brand new licence application.
You need to pass a mandatory refresher training course as it will have been 5 years since your last training.
With your application form, you must send in:
- new photographs which are endorsed on the reverse
- mandatory refresher training certificate
- your current personal licence including the appendices
- £50 renewal fee
The Scottish Government have published a Personal Licence Holder communications document for information.