A personal licence is required for individuals who may be engaged in making and authorising the sale or supply of alcohol. Not every person retailing alcohol at premises licensed for that purpose will need a personal licence, but every sale or supply of alcohol must be at least authorised by such a licence holder.
The application for your personal licence must be made to the licensing authority that covers the area where you normally live, even if you work in another council’s area.
The licence will be issued without an expiry date and remains for the life of the person. The licence remains permanently valid due to the Deregulation Act 2015.
You can view the summary of the legislation Licensing Act 2003.
Who can apply?
You may apply for a personal licence if:
- You are aged 18 or over.
- You hold a licensing qualification accredited by the Secretary of State (or which is certified as if it is such a qualification or is considered equivalent) or is a person as prescribed by the Secretary of State by regulations.
- You have not had a personal licence forfeited within the last five years.
- You have not been convicted of any relevant or foreign offence.
Supporting documents
You will need a valid Basic Disclosure check (DBS)
Applicants living in England and Wales will be required to apply for their criminal record check through Disclosure and barring service. Any enquiries regarding this should be directed to the Disclosure and Barring Service by email at dbsbasicenquiries@dbs.gsi.gov.uk or telephone on 0300 200 0190.
DBS certificates must be no more than 1 month old when we receive your application - if it is older, or if your application is incomplete and your disclosure certificate becomes out of date before we receive a complete application, you will be required to get another one.
You will need to obtain an accredited licensing qualification this typically involves a one-day course with a multiple-choice test at the end. We do not run these courses. You can download a list of Personal licence qualification providers.
Photographs - you will need to 2 passport-size photographs of yourself.
The back of one of the photographs must have a written statement by a person of professional standing who is not a member of your family, stating that it is a true likeness of you.
Once your application has been submitted and paid for, it is automatically sent to the responsible authorities.
Apply
Complete the personal licence application online.
A copy of the following will need to be uploaded at the time of submission.
Please do not send original documents or copies in the post.
- Level 2 qualification certificate
- Basic Disclosure Certificate (DBS) (Must not be older than 1 month)
- 2 passport size photographs
- One of the identification documents demonstrating the right to work in the UK.
If you experience difficulties uploading documents, please send them via email to the email address at the bottom of the page.
The payment of £37.00 can be made at the time of submission.
Once all your documents have been received and processed, You will receive a licence card and paper certificate. Applications may take up to six weeks to process.
Change of name or address
Under Section 127 of the Licensing Act 2003, personal licence holders are required to notify their issuing authority if there are changes to either their name or address.
Please complete the change of details form using the link. The payment of £10.50 can be made at the time of submission by card.
Personal Licence change of details
Your licence card and paper part will need to be returned to us by post.
For change of name please supply a copy of any supporting documents e.g., marriage certificate.
If you wish you can update your photograph at the same time but there will be an additional charge of £10.50. If you are updating your photograph this will need to be endorsed on the reverse side with a statement verifying the likeness of the photograph to the applicant by a person of professional standing who is not a member of your family.
Lost, stolen or damaged cards.
Please download print and complete the personal licence replacement form (PDF - 171.83 KB).
The completed form can be emailed to licensing@bromley.gov.uk.
Payment for a replacement licence can be made using the payment link.
If you wish you can update your photograph at the same time but there will be an additional charge of £10.50. If you are updating your photograph this will need to be endorsed on the reverse side with a statement verifying the likeness of the photograph to the applicant by a person of professional standing who is not a member of your family.
Fees
Our current schedule of licensing fees.
New application £37.00.
The cost for change of details is £10.50.
Lost, stolen or damaged cards £10.50.
Update photo £10.50.
Should you wish to surrender your personal licence at any time, you will need to notify us by email you will also need to return your licence.
If you have any questions relating to your application, please email: licensing@bromley.gov.uk.