SCPLH refresher and licence renewal

Your Scottish personal licence (SCPLH) carries two separate clocks. Every 5 years from your issue date you must complete refresher training and send the certificate to your Licensing Board within 3 months of that anniversary. Every 10 years the licence itself must be formally renewed with the Board, not just the training refreshed.

Miss the refresher deadline and your licence can be treated as lapsed, which strips you of the authority to sell alcohol under it — a real problem if you are the named premises manager. A Licensing Standards Officer checks training records, not just the certificate on the wall.

Watch out for

• Counting the 5 years from when you last thought about it rather than the actual issue date printed on the licence — the clock does not reset itself.
• Treating the refresher certificate as the whole job. It has to reach the Board within 3 months of the anniversary — training alone, unsubmitted, does not satisfy the duty.
• Confusing the 5-year refresher with the 10-year renewal. Doing one does not excuse the other — they run on separate clocks and both lapse the licence if missed.

Sources

• gov.scot — Personal Licence Holders (alcohol licensing guidance) checked 2026-09-08
• legislation.gov.uk — Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, s.72 checked 2026-09-02

See also

• Get a personal licence (and name your DPS / premises manager)— this becomes part of getting open →
• Train every member of staff who serves alcohol— this becomes part of getting open →