Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Personal Licence Holders (15 October 2018, updated 7 May 2019 and 3 June 2019)

This Advice Note has been prepared by North Ayrshire Licensing Board to give advice to people who hold Personal Licences and want to renew them, or who want to apply for Licences. We also give "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions". This Advice Note is based on the rules which are currently in force. The rules are later changed by the Scottish Government, we'll update this advice note.

• Many Personal Licences were effective from 1 September 2009, which is when the current Licensing system started, but some were only effective later in 2009. To make this Advice Note easier to follow we refer here to 1 September 2009 and dates linked to it (for example, Personal Licences last 10 years, so a Licence which became effective on 1 September 2009 would expire on 31 August 2019).

But

when applying this Advice Note to your own situation, look at the "Expiry Date" shown on your Licence, and count back 3 months from that date. For example, if your own Licence has an "Expiry Date" of 1 October 2019, this means that the nine-month period in which you can apply for renewal started 12 months before that date (1 October 2018) and ends 3 months before the "Expiry Date" (1 July 2019). The Law is in the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, Section 78. When you see * you should refer to this note.

• The Scottish Government has issued the following Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions ("The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 – Personal Licence Holder Communications Document") at

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/licensing-scotland-act-2005-personal-licence-holder-communications-document

You should read that too.

• The Scottish Government has set the rules about Licensing Qualifications. This statement was issued on 4 October 2018 and is set out at the end of this Advice Note ("What Training Qualification do I need?"). There are different rules depending on what you want to do:

[1] Apply for the grant of a new Licence:

• if you have missed the deadline for renewal, or
• if you held a Licence before but the Board revoked it, or
• if you held a Licence before but you surrendered it, or
• if you have never held a Licence before

[2] Apply to renew an existing Licence

[3] Do 'refresher training'

• A 'refresher' Certificate is different from the Certificate you would need to apply for a new Licence - so make sure you ask for "The Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders". See "What Training Qualification do I need?" below.
• If you have a Training Certificate, you should apply now.
• If you don't have a Training Certificate, you should contact a Training Provider now to arrange a Training Course.
• This Advice Notes refers to Groups A, B, C & D. This is because the rules apply differently to different Groups of Personal Licence Holders. To find out which Group you are in, look at the "Expiry Date" on your Licence:

Group A: my "Expiry Date" is 31 August or 1 September 2019 and I did apply by the Renewal Deadline of 31 May 2019

Group B: my "Expiry Date" is 31 August or 1 September 2019 but I did not apply by the Renewal Deadline of 31 May 2019

Group C: my Renewal Deadline has not happened yet, and I plan to apply before then

Group D: my Renewal Deadline was after 31 May 2019, but I missed it.

• To make this Advice Note useful to as many people as possible, it gives general advice and does not deal with the circumstances of any particular person. This Advice Note sets out our understanding of the Law and the Guidance issued by the Scottish Government. It is no substitute for independent legal advice. Anyone who wants specific advice should consult a Solicitor outside the Board. The Board does not warrant that the information given here is appropriate to any particular person and does not accept liability for reliance on the information.