Relevant Offences

'Relevant offence' refers to the offences listed in the Act that could, on conviction, rule out the grant or renewal of a Personal Licence to the applicant concerned.

The offences include:

• those involving serious crime
• those involving serious dishonesty
• those involving controlled drugs
• certain sexual offences
• offences created by the Act

Since the Licensing Act 2003 received Royal Assent, there have been some minor changes to the list of relevant offences. The list below reflects these changes.

When applying for the grant of a Personal Licence or for the renewal of a Personal Licence, the applicant must include details of any relevant or foreign offences for which they have been convicted or, in the case of applications for the renewal of the licence, have been convicted since the grant or last renewal of the licence

Foreign Offences
These are offences other than a relevant offence under the law of any place outside England and Wales.

How do 'foreign offences' differ from relevant offences?
Convictions for offences (other than relevant offences) under the law of any place outside England and Wales, including other parts of the United Kingdom such as Scotland and Northern Ireland, are counted as foreign offences. Details of these will also need to be given. The reason for the separate terms is that offences under the law of places outside England and Wales, which are equivalent to relevant offences, will not necessarily exist in exactly the same form as relevant offences.

Spent Convictions
A conviction for a relevant or foreign offence must be disregarded if it is spent for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Duty to notify Licensing Authority of convictions during application period
Where an applicant for the grant or renewal of a Personal Licence is convicted of a relevant offence or a foreign offence during the application period, he must as soon as reasonably practicable notify the conviction to the authority to which the application is made.