Premises and personal licences

Before applying please ensure you have read the Introduction to the Licensing Act 2003.

See also:

Personal licence

Personal licences are needed by anyone who supervises the sale of alcohol in any premises - including pubs, off-licences, restaurants, hotels etc. An application for a personal licence is made to the council for the area in which you live. This will then be the council responsible for continuing to licence you, even if you move away from the area.

The police have the right to object to the issue of a personal licence on the ground of crime prevention if the applicant has a relevant criminal conviction.

There are various duties on the holder of a personal licence, and the court can forfeit an individual's licence if they are convicted of various offences.

All applicants will be subject to various mandatory conditions.

Back to top

Personal licence applications, change of details and renewals

Personal licences are valid for life and, at present, cost £37.00.

You cannot apply online for personal licences - please download and use the paper forms below:

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

Personal licence renewals

Personal licence holders do not have to renew their licence every 10 years as first suggested by the Licensing Act. Despite some personal licences showing an expiry date this is no longer valid and the licence remains in force. However, if you require, or would like, your personal licence to be reissued without an expiry date please return your licence to the Licensing Unit together with a letter requesting a new licence and a cheque for £10.50 made payable to either Adur District Council or Worthing Borough Council (whichever council originally issued your licence).

DBS checks for personal licence applicants

As part of the application a basic Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check is required from every applicant. This must be less than a month old on the date of application. For list of the responsible organisations that can provide a basic check see:

Responsible organisations - on the GOV.UK Website

Right to work/immigration status

Immigration Act 2016 dictates that a personal licence may not be issued to an individual who is resident in the UK who:

does not have the right to live and work in the UK; or
is subject to a condition preventing him or her from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity

Any personal licence issued in respect of an application made on or after 6th April 2017 will become invalid if the holder ceases to be entitled to work in the UK.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have the right to work in the UK and are not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensing activity. They do this by providing with their application either:

their 'share code' to enable the licensing authority to carry out a check using the Home Office online right to work checking service (see below)
copies or scanned copies of certain prescribed documents which an applicant has provided, to demonstrate their entitlement to work in the UK (which do not need to be certified) as per information below and published on GOV.UK and in guidance

See also:

Right to work / immigration status requirements (430KB)

Back to top

Premises licence

If you run commercial premises that are used for the sale or supply of alcohol, you must have a premises licence.

A premises licence is also required if you provide hot food and drinks between 11pm and 5am, and/or if you provide the following forms of regulated entertainment, either for profit or for charity:

theatrical performance
film exhibition
indoor sporting event
boxing or wrestling (indoor or outdoor)
live music
recorded music
dance

Applications for a premises licence must include the applicants' details and those of the designated premises' supervisor, who must be a personal licence holder.

The designated premises' supervisor is responsible for making sure the premises operate legally and meet any conditions attached to the licence. Applications must include a detailed plan of the premises and an operating schedule.

Private clubs are an exception to the requirement for a premises licence, as they may instead require a Club Premises Certificate.

Under the act there is a presumption for the licensing authority to grant licences unless representation has been received, regarding the proposal, that suggests it might conflict with one of the four licensing objectives. In which case the licensing authority may impose conditions that it deems appropriate to promote the licensing objectives, for example requiring door supervisors in a nightclub to promote the crime prevention objective, or noise control measures to prevent public nuisance. In some cases the authority may even turn down the application.

The Licensing Act encourages mediation. When relevant representations are made about either granting or changing a licence, parties are encouraged to mediate. It is only if mediation is impractical or unsuccessful that the licensing authority convenes a committee, made up of trained councillors, to examine the application at a public hearing. All parties then have the opportunity to explain their case before the committee rules on the application.

All applicants will be subject to various mandatory conditions.

Back to top

Apply for a premises licence

Before applying you may wish to consider applying for a provisional statement

When applying for a premises licence, applicants are required to submit to the licensing authority certain information including a:

scale plan of the building (or event site)
operating Schedule - a description of how the premises will be operated
fee

In addition to applying to the licensing authority copies of the application and plan have to be served by the applicant on the responsible authorities and the application advertised. An initial fee is charged followed by an annual renewal fee that is linked to the non-domestic rateable value of the business's premise. The government, not the council, sets the licence fees.

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

Entitlement to work/immigration status for individual applicants and applications from partnerships which are not limited liability partnerships:

A licence may not be held by an individual or an individual in a partnership who is resident in the UK who:

does not have the right to live and work in the UK; or
is subject to a condition preventing him or her from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity

Any premises licence issued in respect of an application made on or after 6th April 2017 will become invalid if the holder ceases to be entitled to work in the UK.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have the right to work in the UK and are not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensing activity. They do this by providing with their application either:

their 'share code' to enable the licensing authority to carry out a check using the Home Office online right to work checking service (see below)
copies or scanned copies of certain prescribed documents which an applicant has provided, to demonstrate their entitlement to work in the UK (which do not need to be certified) as per information below and published on the GOV.UK website and in guidance

See:

Right to work / immigration status requirements (430KB)

To apply for a Premises Licence:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 4 'How to apply':

Apply for a Premises Licence - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper forms below:

Back to top

Apply for a Full Variation

Where a premises licence holder or club premises certificate holder wishes to amend their licence, in most cases the licence holder may make an application to vary rather than an application for a new premises licence or club premises certificate. This application cannot be used to:

vary the premises' licence to extend the period for which the licence has effect if the original premises licence was of a temporary nature or time limited or
make substantial alterations to the premises, whether physically or to its nature, to which the licence relates. If you wish to make that type of change to the premises licence you should make a new premises licence application

Normally this type of application is used to extend the hours for licensable activity or add licensable activities. For even smaller inconsequential changes to a premises licence, such as a minor structural refurbishment, a minor variation application can be used.

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

To apply for a Full Variation:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 3 'How to change':

Apply for a Full Variation - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper forms below:

Back to top

Apply for a Minor Variation

The minor variations process can only be used for variations that could have no adverse impact on the promotion of any of the four licencing objectives. (These are: the prevention of crime and disorder; public safety; the prevention of public nuisance; and the protection of children from harm.)

Because of the minor nature of the changes allowed under this process the applicant is not required to advertise the variation in a newspaper or copy it to the responsible authorities and only pays a flat fee. However, a notice must be displayed on the premises in accordance with regulation for a period of ten working days to notify the public of the changes proposed. The licensing authority can consult any responsible authority it deems appropriate.

The process cannot be used to:

extend the period for which the licence or certificate has effect
transfer the licence or certificate from one premises to another
specify, in a premises licence, an individual as the premises supervisor
add the sale by retail or supply of alcohol as an activity authorised by a licence or certificate
authorise the sale by retail or supply of alcohol at any time between 11pm and 5am
authorise an increase in the amount of time on any day during which alcohol may be sold by retail or supplied
include the alternative licence condition referred to in section 41D(3) in a premises licence

The licence holder will be required to apply for a full variation if what is proposed:

falls under any of the above
attracts significant relevant representation from the public or any of the responsible authorities consulted by the licensing authority that suggests that the variation might have a negative effect on the licence holder's ability to promote the licensing objectives
if the changes proposed by the minor variation application are deemed to have an adverse effect on the licensing objectives and refused

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

To apply for a Minor Variation:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 3 'How to change':

Apply for a Minor Variation - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper forms below:

Back to top

Transfer a Premises Licence

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

To apply to Transfer a Premises Licence:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 3 'How to change':

Apply to Transfer a Premises Licence - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper form below:

Premises Licence - Transfer licence application form - to hand write (222KB)

Entitlement to work/immigration status for individual applicants and applications from partnerships which are not limited liability partnerships:

A licence may not be held by an individual or an individual in a partnership who is resident in the UK who:

does not have the right to live and work in the UK; or
is subject to a condition preventing him or her from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity

Any premises licence issued in respect of an application made on or after 6th April 2017 will become invalid if the holder ceases to be entitled to work in the UK.

Applicants must demonstrate that they have an entitlement to work in the UK and are not subject to a condition preventing them from doing work relating to the carrying on of a licensable activity. They do this by providing with this application copies or scanned copies of certain prescribed documents (a list is included on the application form and these document).

Back to top

Other

Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS)

Where a premises licence authorises the sale of alcohol, a mandatory condition is that no supply of alcohol may be made at a time when no designated premises supervisor has been specified on the licence.

The DPS is an individual named on the premises licence who must hold a valid personal licence and who takes ultimate legal responsibility for alcohol sales taking place at that venue, making sure the premises operate legally and meet any conditions attached to the premises licence.

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

To apply to change a DPS:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 3 'How to change':

Apply to change a DPS - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper forms below:

Interim Authority Notice

Following the death, incapacity or insolvency of a licence holder the premises licence lapses unless it has been transferred into another person's or business' name within 28 days. However, during this 28-day period, to avoid the licence lapsing, allow it to keep trading and allow a new licence holder to be organised, an Interim Authority Notice can be served by a person who has a prescribed interest in the premises, or is connected to the person who held the premises licence immediately before it lapsed.

Where an interim authority notice is given in accordance with the legislation the premises licence is reinstated from the time the notice is received by the relevant licensing authority, and the person who gave the notice is from that time the holder of the licence until such time as the notice lapses (after 3 months) or a transfer application has been made.

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

To apply for an Interim Authority Notice:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 3 'How to change':

Apply for an Interim Authority Notice - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper form below:

Premises Licence - Interim Authority Notice - to hand write (193KB)

Section 178 - Right of freeholder etc. to be notified of licensing matters

A person with a property interest in any licensed premise situated in the area of a licensing authority can give notice of his interest to that authority. If a change relating to the premises licence to which the notice relates is made the licensing authority must forthwith notify the person who gave the notice.

See also:

Licensing Act 2003 Fees

To apply for a Section 178 notice:

You will need to enter your postcode, and then select option 3 'How to change':

Apply for a Section 178 notice - on the GOV.UK website

Or download and use the paper form below:

Premises Licence - Notification of an interest under section 178 - to hand write (169KB)

Apply for a provisional statement

Persons or businesses considering opening a licensed premise may apply for a provisional statement. This allows new premises to be prepared in the confidence that a full licence will be granted, providing that it is built according to the original operating schedule and plans submitted to the council, and that there have been no material changes in the meanwhile.

See also: