The sale or supply of alcohol, because of its impact on the wider community and on crime and anti-social behaviour, carries a great responsibility. Therefore any person who is supplying, selling or authorising the sale of alcohol, must hold a Personal Licence issued under the Act.

Premises Licences which authorise the sale of alcohol require a Personal Licence Holder to be named on the Licence as the Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS).

Some premises by their nature may require a number of additional people working there. or those holding positions of authority, to hold a Personal Licence.

You can see full guidance of the Alcohol licensing regulations at the gov.uk website.

Before you apply

You are only permitted to hold one Personal Licence.

Applicants for a Personal Licence must apply to the Licensing Authority where they live, rather than where they work or intend to work. If during the course of the Licence, the holder moves to another area, any renewal/ replacement Licence must be dealt with by the original Licensing Authority.

All Personal Licence holders:

  • Must be over 18
  • Must provide proof of their right to work in the United Kingdom
  • Must hold a recognised licensing qualification or be a person of a prescribed description
  • Must not have been convicted of a “relevant” or “foreign” offence (these convictions are listed in the Schedule of Relevant Offences)
  • Must not have had a Personal Licence forfeited in the previous five years

Before you apply for a Personal Licence, you first need to obtain a Level 2 Award for Personal Licence Holders qualification. Many colleges run courses for this qualification. You can find details on the .gov accredited personal licence qualification providers.

Request a copy of your criminal record (External Link) to apply for a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and get a copy of your criminal record. It costs £23 and is available for people working in England and Wales.

Other organisations who provide this service can be found on the Gov.uk Responsible Organisations (external link) page or the results of a subject access of search of the Police National Computer (PNC), please note this is not the same as an access search under data protection legislation. This check needs to be issued no earlier than one calendar month before the giving of the application to the Licensing Authority.

How to apply

Before applying please make sure you have obtained a National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders qualification.

To apply for a Personal Licence you must fill out an application form and return it to us along with your Disclosure of Convictions and Declaration form at the address below:

You will need to prove your right to work in the UK. You must either provide acceptable documentation or visit the Home Office Online Right to Work Checking Service and generate a 9 digit share code which will allow us to carry out the check.

Once you have completed the forms above you can upload these and make a payment online:

You will also need to post your basic DBS check to us at:

Licensing, Rother District Council, Town Hall, London Road, Bexhill-On-Sea, TN39 3JX.

If on receipt of your application it appears to us that you fail to meet any of the requirements outlined above, with the exception of “relevant”/ “foreign” offences, then we must reject your application.

Where your application meets the requirements outlined above, but you have been convicted of “relevant”/ “foreign” offences, then the we must give Notice to the Chief Officer of Police to that effect.

If the Chief Officer of Police considers that granting the Personal Licence would undermine the crime prevention objective, then he/ she must give an Objection Notice to us. In these circumstances we must hold a Hearing to determine the application.

Tacit Consent

Tacit consent does not apply to Personal Licences.

It is in the public interest that we process your application before it can be granted. If you have not heard from us within a reasonable period, please contact us.

Keeping your licence up to date

If you have changed address and/or name you must inform the local authority who initially issued your personal licence.  Please complete our Personal Licence change of name and/or address (pdf)  and make a payment online for £10.50.

If you require a copy for your personal licence due to it being lost/stolen/damaged etc. please complete our Application for a copy of Personal Licence (pdf)  and make a payment online for £10.50.

Renewing your licence

From 1 April 2015, the government has removed the requirement for personal licence holders to renew their licence every 10 years.  

Existing licence holders were contacted to confirm that licences already issued will remain in effect indefinitely.  Unless there is any other reason to renew the licence, eg change of name/address or notification of relevant conviction, you should retain the letter with your original licence in case of query.  No further action is required other than to confirm to the Council that you still wish to hold a Personal Licence.  This will enable us to comply with the Data Protection Act by updating our records and deleting any information no longer required to be stored. 

If you need to make changes to or need a replacement licence, please see above.

Licence holder redress

An applicant may appeal the decision of the Licensing Authority to:

  • Reject the application for the grant or renewal of a Personal Licence
  • Revoke a Personal Licence following the Holder’s conviction for a “relevant” or “foreign” offence

All appeals must be made to the local Magistrates’ court within 21 days of notice of the Licensing Authority’s decision.

Please feel free to contact us for advice in the first instance. Alternatively you may wish to consider seeking independent legal advice.

Other redress

The Chief Officer of Police may appeal the decision of the Licensing Authority to:

  • Grant an application for a Personal Licence following service of an Objection Notice
  • Fail to revoke a Personal Licence following the Holder’s conviction for a “relevant” or “foreign” offence

Consumer complaint

We would always advise that in the event of a complaint the first contact is made with the trader by you – preferably in the form a letter (with proof of delivery). If that has not worked Gov.uk can offer advice on Consumer Protection Rights.

Please direct all enquires concerning licensing matters to the Licensing Team who are part of the Rother and Wealden Environmental Health Service.

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