Some councils will accept payment in cash, some will accept payment by credit card over the phone but all councils will accept a cheque. In my experience paying by any other method than cheque is to invite trouble.
The fee is £37, payable to the Licensing Authority you are applying to.
Your Licensing Authority will be the council for the area in which you usually reside. If you are not sure of this, it is the council to which council tax for the property is payable. The other way to find out is as follows:
Click on 'Council & Reps' on the left hand side, under the heading 'Local area'
The council for your area should be displayed. If you want confirmation then simply ring up the council you think is your Licensing Authority and they will be able to help you.
The application must be sent to your Licensing Authority (as identified above in the 'fees' bit) and is made up of the following documents:
The licensing qualification certificate;
A valid (ie not expired) criminal record check;
The completed and signed Personal Licence application form;
The completed and signed Disclosure of Convictions and Declaration form;
Two photographs, one of which must be endorsed on the reverse; and
The cheque for the fee.
All documents must be the originals, not photocopies. The Council will send you your certificates back. Use a plastic wallet or at least an elastic band to keep everything together. With so many documents it's easy for items to get lost (and don't use a paperclip - if you've worked in an office with a lot of paper you'll know how much trouble these can be).
It's a good idea to write a short covering letter or enclose some sort of note listing the documents you're sending. The letter should be dated too, which may help in case the application is misplaced (as sometimes happens) and you need to show that everything was sent before the criminal record check expired.
Bearing in mind the documents enclosed and the amount of personal information included I would recommend that you arrange for the application to be hand-delivered or you send it by registered post or special delivery.
If all is well then your application should be granted and returned to you as soon as the Licensing Authority are able to process it. Turnaround times differ from council to council - some take a matter of days, some a couple of weeks. If you haven't received your licence after 3 weeks then you should call to check its progress.
To wrap up this guide there are a few important things that you need to know and remember about your Personal Licence. As ever, here's the video with notes to follow below.
What the licence looks like
There are two parts to it – a paper certificate and a credit card-sized card. The licence holder must have the card on them at all times that they are supplying or authorising the supply of alcohol. The certificate should be kept safely.
Duration and renewal
The licence lasts for ten years, at which point the holder must apply for renewal. There is a two-month window for renewal starting five months before the licence expires.
The form for renewing the Personal Licence is here and the fee payable is £37 at the time of writing.
Alternatively, if a holder decides they no longer want the licence then it can be surrendered by simply sending it back to the Licensing Authority that issued it and informing them of the intention to surrender it.
Updating information on the licence
If the licence holder moves house or changes their name the Licensing Authority must be told so they can issue an updated licence. This is done by sending:
A letter including the details that are to be changed
The original Personal Licence - both the card and certificate parts; and
A cheque for £10.50
If the licence holder moves to an area that is covered by a different Licensing Authority this does not matter – the Authority that grants the licence to begin with will remain the relevant authority for as long as that licence lasts.
Theft, loss, destruction or damage
If your licence suffers any of the above fates then a duplicate can be requested from the Licensing Authority. In this case a letter and a cheque for £10.50 must be sent to them.
If the licence is stolen then it must be reported to the police. The resulting crime number must be given to the Licensing Authority as proof that this has been done.
Convictions while holding a Personal Licence
If a licence holder is charged with a relevant offence it must be produced to the court or, if this is not possible, the court must be notified of the licence as they may order forfeiture or suspension of it. If such a ruling is made it is for the court to notify the Licensing Authority of the forfeiture.
If you want to apply for a Personal Licence for supplying or authorising the supply of alcohol in England & Wales then all the information you need is here.