Occasional Licence

From 1 May 2018 Alcohol can only be sold at or above 50 pence per unit. For further information and guidance please visit the Alcohol Minimum Unit Pricing webpage.

An application for an occasional licence to permit the sale of alcohol on unlicensed premises i.e. premises that are not licensed by a premises licence issued under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 can be made by:

• the holder of a premises licence;
• the holder of a personal licence; or 
• a representative of any voluntary organisation (see drop down box below for further information)

There is no restriction on the number of occasional licences premises licence holders and personal licence holders can apply for to licence premises that are otherwise unlicensed.

By law there are restrictions on the occasional licences available to voluntary organisations, and also in certain circumstances to clubs. Please see below for further information regarding this.

The Licensing Board can issue an occasional licence for a period of not more than 14 days. Applications can be made for individual dates, dates within a 14 day period or a continuous period of up to 14 days. In all cases a statement of the times during which it is proposed alcohol will be sold must also be included in the application.

As of 1 November 2016 if you hold an occasional licence you will no longer be exempt from the requirement to hold a public entertainment licence. By law it will be a criminal offence to hold an event for which a public entertainment licence is required without such a licence, without reasonable excuse, liable on summary conviction to a fine or imprisonment or both.

You can find guidance and information regarding the public entertainment licensing scheme on the following page Public Entertainment Licence

The 2005 Act does not provide a definition of what constitutes a voluntary organisation. The definition that will be applied by the Board is set out in section 7.3  of the Board's statement of licensing policy West Lothian Licensing Board Policy Statement 2023-28 (PDF, 990 KB)(opens new window)

"Voluntary organisations are formally constituted non-profit driven, autonomous and non-statutory organisations which are run by individuals who do not get paid. The aim of a voluntary organisation is to deliver social benefit in a variety of forms rather than to generate profit for distribution to its members."

Organisations or bodies created under statute and therefore subject to statutory rules, regulations, duties and obligations will not be considered to be voluntary. This will include companies, Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) and Community Interest Companies (CISs).

If you are in any doubt as to whether an organisation or body is voluntary for the purposes of an occasional licence application please do not hesitate to contact our Licensing Standards Officer (opens new window) at West Lothian Council for further assistance. Alternatively you may wish to seek legal advice.

By law the Board can only issue to representatives of a voluntary organisations, in any period of 12 months:

• not more than 4 occasional licences each having effect for a period of 4 days or more; and
• not more than 12 occasional licences each having effect for a period of less than 4 days

subject to the combined total of any such licences not exceeding 56 days.

Under Schedule 4 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 all occasional licences issued to voluntary organisations are subject to a mandatory condition that alcohol may only be sold on the premises at an event taking place on the premises in connection with the voluntary organisation's activities.

By law the Board can only issue to clubs holding premises licences in accordance with section 125 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Licensing (Clubs) (Scotland) Regulations 2007, to allow them to host functions and other events without the application of the rules relating to members and non-members that otherwise apply:

In any period of 12 months:

• not more than 4 occasional licences each having effect for a period of 4 days or more; and
• not more than 12 occasional licences each having effect for a period of less than 4 days

subject to the combined total of any such licences not exceeding 56 days.

In accordance with section 7 of its statement of licensing policy, the Board will consider late applications for emergency and unforeseen events only on a minimum of 72 hours' notice being given. Late applications must be accompanied by a fully completed emergency and unforeseen form explaining why the event is emergency or unforeseen. Please see section 7 of the Board's statement of licensing policy for further information regarding this. Please note that funerals are included as an example of an unforeseen event.

The Board's emergency and unforeseen events form is available from the downloads section of this page.

A copy of the application is available from the downloads section at the bottom of this webpage, you should read the application and guidance notes carefully before completing and information on how to lodge the form can be found at section 9 of the guidance notes attached to the application.

Before you complete the application you are also advised to read section 7 of the Board's statement of licensing policy which can be found in the downloads section of this webpage.

The application fee for an occasional Licence is £10.00

If your application is incomplete we will contact you to inform you of this. We may require to return your application to you to be amended and resubmitted. Your application will only be treated as lodged on the date when a complete application is received.

On receipt of a complete application:

• as required by law we will give notice of your application, together with a copy of it, to Police Scotland and the council's Licensing Standards Officer. In addition, for events involving marquees, we will consult with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and the council's Building Standards service;
• as required by law we will also advertise your application on the council's website for a period of 7 days. By law any person can object to or make a representation regarding your application during the relevant 7 day period;
• your application can only be granted by the Licensing Team if there are no objections or representations from any of the Board's advisors or members of the public regarding it. If there is any objection or representation regarding your application, in accordance with the Board's scheme of delegation, your application will be considered by the Board Convener or his nominee, after you have been asked for your written comments on the objection or representation. The Board Convener or his nominee may either determine the application based on the all the documentation received or refer it to the Licensing Board;
• if the Convener or his nominee grants your application you will be notified and your occasional licence will be issued accordingly. If your application is refused you will be notified accordingly. If a decision is made to refer your application to the Board, you will also be notified and provided with the date and time of the Board meeting at which your application is to be considered. You will be sent a copy of a report on your application for the Board and you or your representative will be given the opportunity to attend the meeting and to address the Board regarding your application.

All occasional licences are subject to the mandatory conditions contained in Schedule 4 of the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005. All applicants and occasional licence holders should therefore be familiar with these conditions - a copy of these is available in the downloads section of this page.

In addition, the Board will impose conditions on an occasional licence. These are detailed in the Board's policy at Appendix 3 a copy of which is available from the downloads section of this page. If you do not consider that all conditions should apply please give the reason for that in the "additional information sheet" attached to the application form.

Any member of the public can object to or make a representation regarding an application for an occasional licence during the 7 day period in which the application is advertised. You can find current applications on the following page Adverts for Current Alcohol Licence Applications

Please consider the guidance How to Object to or Make a Representation Regarding An Alcohol Licence Application (PDF, 979 KB)(opens new window)  before submitting your objection or representation.