Knife Dealer Licence

If you want to apply for a licence you must submit an application form along with the required documents and the appropriate fee.

Application forms which have guidance notes attached to them and a list of fees are available from the downloads section of this page. You should read the guidance notes carefully before completing your application form.

There are two separate application forms. One is for persons applying for a licence as an individual and the other is to be completed by applicants who are companies, partnership or organisations.

All applications are copied to the Council's advisors who can recommend that conditions in addition to the standard conditions detailed on this page are attached to the licence when granted. The advisors may visit your premises prior to submitting their comments to the Licensing Team. In particular the advisors may request that the following conditions be included in your licence if your application is granted:

• Requirement to have CCTV cameras on the premises
• Requirement to have secure display cabinets on the premises

If you do not want to accept any recommended conditions then the application would be referred to the Licensing Committee for a decision to be made regarding which conditions will apply to your licence. Mandatory background checks will be carried out on all applicants by Police Scotland and applicants' details will be retained on computer. You will be contacted once vetting is complete.

Subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, all unspent convictions, fixed penalties and alternatives to prosecution  must be declared including all breaches of road traffic law and you can find further information on that by using this link Scottish Government Guidance on Disclosure of Convictions which takes you to guidance from the Scottish Government regarding the disclosure of convictions, including spent convictions or alternatives to prosecution.

If you have previous convictions and have doubts as to which offences are spent you may wish to seek legal advice before completing an application.

Any member of the public can make an objection or representation about a knife dealer's licence application unless the application is for a temporary licence.

A guidance note explaining how an objection or representation can be made can be viewed hereInformation on Responding to Licence Applications (PDF, 23 KB)(opens new window)

The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 contains a number of grounds on which applications can be refused Grounds for Refusal of Civic Licence Applications (PDF, 88 KB)(opens new window) If none of these grounds is found to exist the application must be granted. Licensing caselaw makes it clear that in making decisions on any application under Part II of the 1982 Act a committee should have adequate factual material before it to support its conclusions and any reasons given should be those related to the objects of the civic government licensing legislation.

Applications which do not attract any adverse comments/objections are granted by the Chief Solicitor under delegated powers. All other applications require to be referred to the Licensing Committee for determination. You will be advised if your application is being referred to the Licensing Committee. The Committee meets on a monthly basis.

We have nine months in which to determine your application however the majority of applications are determined within 60 days. 

You should notify us as soon as you can if your details change or any of the information given in your application becomes out of date due to a change in your circumstances.

If you no longer wish to hold your licence you can surrender it to the council at any time by returning your licence together with a letter stating that you wish to surrender it. If you surrender your licence it will cease to have effect.

The following list contains details of licence holders, the list is updated regularly and at least every 12 weeks and gives details of the name of the licence holder and premises address. For the avoidance of doubt this is the only information available to members of the public.

Current List of Knife Dealers (PDF, 94 KB)(opens new window)

Complaints regarding the service offered by knife dealers should be made direct to the premises. Complaints regarding the conduct of licence holders may be made to the Licensing Team. These should be made in writing by email or letter providing full details of the nature of the complaint and sent to the Licensing Team using the contact details on the top right handside of this page.

Complaints regarding unlicensed knife dealers' should be made to Police Scotland by calling 101.