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An Occasional Licence is for those who wish to temporarily sell alcohol on unlicensed premises for a period of no more than 14 days in Scotland.
Call us to bookAn Occasional Licence allows you to temporarily sell alcohol from premises that are not licensed or, in some cases club premises. Certain activities and events require an Occasional Licence, such as dances, wedding receptions, gala or music festivals, dinner dances, beer tents, parties with discos or bands, and more.
If you want to apply for an Occasional Licence, you must apply for it at least 6 weeks before you require it. According to the Licensing Board's policy, if you submit your licence application 28 days or less before you require it, it will be rejected. However, there’s an exception for a funeral tea.
Submitting an application between 4 and 6 weeks before you require it will be considered late. Then it will be sent to the Licensing Board's convenor, and the decision will be in their hands whether they accept it. While you submit an application, you must provide a good reason for applying late to communicate it to the convenor.
The cost of an Occasional Licence application is £10, which is non-refundable. You can use any payment method, from applying online, making a telephone payment on 0300 456 0483, or visiting the relevant service point.
You can apply for an Occasional Licence if you
If you want to sell alcohol but don't have a Personal Licence, you need to get a Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (SCPLH) qualification. Enrol now on a Scottish Personal Licence Training Course to get this qualification.
You’re granted an Occasional Licence for a maximum of 14 days.
You must contact your local council to apply for an Occasional Licence. The application must be submitted at least 28 days before you need the licence.
While applying for your Occasional Licence, you'll need to provide:
No. You can only apply for Occasional Licences to a certain limit. A volunteer organisation has a maximum limit of 4 occasional licences. Each of the licences lasts for between 4 and 14 days. Otherwise, you can also have 12 Occasional Licences, each lasting 4 days or less.
SIA issues several SIA Licences for different security jobs. Check the most popular SIA licences below:
Yes, you can. But it depends on the offence type and how SIA deals with it. You can contact SIA by filling out this Contact Form for more information.
No. To work in the security industry you must get an SIA licence. It’s illegal to work in the security industry with a valid SIA licence.
If you have an SIA licence issued for one licensable activity and you want to utlise it in a different area, this process is called licence integration. For example, a Close Protection Licence allows you to work as a Door Supervisor.
In most cases, SIA takes around 25 working days once you submit your applucation. In rare cases, this can take up to 6 weeks.
With an SIA Occasional Licence, you can take on short-term security roles such as event security, crowd control, and more at events, festivals, or other temporary assignments.
No, the SIA Occasional Licence does not require renewal. It is valid for a specific event or short-term assignment, and once the event concludes, the licence is no longer applicable. You must get a new Occasional Licence for each separate occasion or event where you intend to work in a temporary security capacity.
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