Personal licence

A licensed premises which sells or supplies alcohol needs a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS).

There can only be one DPS per premises. The DPS takes responsibility for what happens at the premises, although does not need to be there at all times.

To be the DPS at a premises, you need to have a personal licence.

You will also need to have an accredited qualification to apply for a personal licence, as well as a basic disclosure certificate.

You need to apply for a personal licence from the licensing authority where you live, not where you work. If you live in the Chelmsford area you need to apply to us, even if you work elsewhere.

You can view a summary of relevant offences.

How to apply

To apply for a personal licence, you will need to submit:

• an  application form

• a  disclosure of convictions form

• your original training certificate

• an original basic disclosure of convictions form dated within the last month, or a Police National Computer check

• two passport photos, with one endorsed on the back to verify your likeness to the photo (see further guidance below)

• proof that you have the right to live and work in the UK (you can find information about right of abode on GOV.UK

You will also need to pay the fee of £37.

You can return your application and supporting documents by post. 

Alternatively, you can return your completed application forms by email. You must include scanned copies of supporting documents. You can submit them to us.

What happens next

Once we receive your application, we will:

• acknowledge it within three working days

• notify you of the outcome 

If we do not grant your licence, we will not refund your fee.

You do not need to renew this licence. It is valid until you surrender it or we revoke it. 

Passport photos

You must provide two passport photos when you apply for a personal licence.

The photo must:

• be passport size (45mm high x 35mm wide)
• be taken against a plain background
• show your full face (no glasses or head covering unless it’s for religious or medical reasons)

You must sign the back of one of the photos, and someone else must confirm the other photo is you. This person must sign and date the back of the photograph and confirm it is you in the photo. The person cannot be your spouse or a relative, and you must have known them for at least two years.

Some examples of those who can counter-sign photos submitted with personal applications includes the following:

• Doctor
• Accountant
• Bank or Building Society official
• Fire Service Officer
• Solicitor or Notary
• Local Government Officer
• Police Officer
• Religious Minister
• Optician
• Director or Chairman of a Limited Company
• Teacher
• Councillor

Change of name or address

If you have a personal licence and your name or address changes, you will need to submit an application to change your details.

To make an application you will need to:

• download and fill in your application form (you will need to right click on the PDF to save it to your device, not just open it, and have the latest version of Adobe Reader to view the document)
• upload your completed application form
• pay the correct fee 

 To complete the form, you will need: 

• your name, address and contact details
• the name of the business and its address
• details of the change
• to sign a declaration
• to pay the £10.50 fee

Once we receive your notification, we will issue you with an updated personal licence.  

If you are having trouble downloading the application form, you can read our guidance.