Licensing Act 2003

121 Determination of application for renewal

(1) This section applies where an application for the renewal of a personal licence is made to the relevant licensing authority in accordance with section 117.

(2) If it appears to the authority that the applicant has been convicted of any relevant offence or foreign offence since the relevant time, the relevant licensing authority must give notice to that effect to the chief officer of police for its area.

(3) Where, having regard to—

(a) any conviction of the applicant for a relevant offence, and

(b) any conviction of his for a foreign offence which the chief officer of police considers to be comparable to a relevant offence,

the chief officer of police is satisfied that renewing the licence would undermine the crime prevention objective, he must, within the period of 14 days beginning with the day he received the notice under subsection (2), give the authority a notice stating the reasons why he is so satisfied (an “objection notice”).

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(a) and (b) it is irrelevant whether the conviction occurred before or after the relevant time.

(5) Where no objection notice is given within that period (or any such notice is withdrawn), the authority must grant the application.

(6) In any other case, the authority—

(a) must hold a hearing to consider the objection notice unless the applicant, the chief officer of police and the authority agree that it is unnecessary, and

(b) having regard to the notice, must—

(i) reject the application if it considers it necessary for the promotion of the crime prevention objective to do so, and

(ii) grant the application in any other case.

(7) In this section “the relevant time” means—

(a) if the personal licence has not been renewed since it was granted, the time it was granted, and

(b) if it has been renewed, the last time it was renewed.