Personal licences – renewals still needed despite forthcoming changes
17th November, 2014
The Government has confirmed that some personal licence holders will still need to renew their licences despite plans to ditch the system.
Failure to renew licences in time could lead to those licences being lost and even premises being closed as a result.
What is happening?
The Government is due to remove the requirement for renewal of personal licences.
However, Ministers have confirmed that the Deregulation Bill, which will enact the removal, will not receive Royal Assent until Spring 2015.
This means that people whose licences are due to expire in early 2015 – an estimated 500,000 – will still need to get those licences renewed.
How to renew
The latest information is that licence holders will need to submit a short application form containing basic details to their Local Authority.
There will be no application fee and no need to supply photographs, criminal record details or the existing personal licence.
However, the Local Authority will need to acknowledge receipt of the application for the personal licence to still be valid.
The Home Office is due to provide the application form and has said that further guidance on the revised process will be issued “very shortly”.
When to apply
Application forms will need to be lodged no earlier than three months before the expiry of a personal licence and no later than one month before the expiry date.
With the earliest renewals due by 7 February, the Home Office will have to get the application process in place before 7 January next year.
What happens if I miss the deadline?
While there may be some leeway in the process, bearing in mind the transition to the abolition of the system, licensees could still face potential issues if they fail to take action.
In strict terms, if the application deadline is missed, that person will no longer be a personal licence holder and will no longer be permitted to be a designated premises supervisor (DPS).
If the applicant who missed the deadline is the DPS for licensed premises, those premises will have to stop selling alcohol, pending an appointment of a new DPS.
However, there still remains a degree of uncertainty about this transitional period. We will keep you up to date with developments as they happen.
How can Ward Hadaway help?
We can provide advice and information on all aspects of the personal licence system, including guiding you through the renewal process.
For more information, please get in touch.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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