Personal licence laws for under-18s and TENs

Course for under-18s

Q. My son is going into his final year at school, and has told me that he would like to get a bar job at the end of that year. I know that he needs to be 18 to obtain a personal licence, but is there any harm in me paying for him to go on the Award for Personal Licence Holders course even though he is not 18? Can he do the course?​

A. There is no harm at all in putting him through the course, and there is no age limit on how old you have to be sit the course, nor is there a time limit on the certificate if he is successful. Therefore, it would be quite sensible to send your son on the course before his 18th birthday, and then applying for a personal licence as soon as he is 18. This could save some time in the long run.

Scottish personal licence renewals

Q. I live in the north of England but I hold a Scottish personal licence from when I was a premises manager in Scotland. The licence is coming up for its 10-year renewal. I know that I have to ensure that my renewal application is with the licensing board that originally issued it at least three months before the renewal date. I have recently re-done my second set of refresher training so that is up to date. Do I need to send in additional photographs, and what is the fee?​

A. You will need to complete an application form and send in your refresher training, but you will also need to provide two passport-quality photographs as well as paying the fee, which is £50.

Temporary event notices

Q. I want to book my wife’s birthday party in the local village hall, and I want to sell alcohol with a temporary event notice (TEN). But the village hall has told me that because they have a party the night before and the organiser of that party has obtained a TEN, I cannot then obtain a second TEN myself because there needs to be a 24-hour gap between the end of the party on Friday night and the start of my wife’s party TEN on the Saturday. Is this really correct?​

A. The village hall is wrong. They would be right if the TEN were being issued to the same person, or the second TEN was issued to a close relative or business associate or the person who was granted the first TEN. So, there is no problem in you applying for a second TEN.