Personal licence holders urged to act now on renewal

Those in Orkney who hold a licence to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol are being urged to act now to ensure that they apply to renew their personal licences by May 31 this year — or risk losing them.

Orkney Islands Council has said reminders have been issued to licence holders but very few have come forward so far to renew their licence or advise the council that they no longer need the licence.

Personal licence holders have a vital job within the licensed alcohol trade. They authorise the sale of alcohol in both on and off sales businesses and ensure that each and every sale is legal.

As part of their responsibilities, they must undergo training every five years to refresh their knowledge of the licensing regime and apply to renew their personal licence every 10 years, submitting the renewal application no later than three months before expiry date of the licence.

As most licences are due for renewal this year following the introduction of legislation in 2009, the council is recommending that licence holders should do both now — so that an up-to-date refresher training certificate can be submitted with licence renewal applications.  You won’t be able to renew your licence without having done the training.

Elaine Sinclair is a legal clerk, with OIC. She said: “We’re urging licence holders to act now to ensure they retain their licence if they want to.  We really don’t want folk to wait till the last minute. The training in itself needs to be booked, with the training certification then taking a while to come through.

“We also don’t want to end up with a raft of applications all coming in to the council at the last minute — as they take time to process. If you no longer wish to hold a personal licence it would be extremely helpful if you would return it to us, with confirmation that you wish to surrender it.”

The application form for renewal of personal licences is available on the council’s website, with paper copies available from the council on request.

The application must be accompanied by:

•         Your personal licence or, if that is not practicable, a statement of the reasons for your failure to produce the personal licence;

•         two new passport photographs;

•         your new refresher training certificate; and

•         Payment of the application fee of £50.