April 2021

This Brief publishes guidance on the new process for renewing a GLAA licence. This brief supersedes Brief 65. 

Introduction

The aim of this brief is to explain the changes that have been made to the renewal process.  It provides guidance on the new procedures for renewing a GLAA licence.

This guidance is in force from 11 May 2021 for licence holders with a renewal date on or after this date. 

Background

A new online GLAA Licensing Portal will be launched on 11 May 2021.  We will provide an update on the GLAA website if this date changes.

The aim of the portal is to make the renewal process quicker and easier by allowing licence holders to view their licence record details online.  You will also now be able to pay your renewal fee online within the portal. 

There are a number of new steps that licence holders must complete within the online portal in order to renew a licence. 

Changes have also been made to the process for issuing renewal reminders and there are new security questions which will appear in licence records during a renewal.

Renewal reminders

Current process

• Six weeks before the expiry date of the licence, the first renewal reminder letter is issued to the business email address, along with a copy of the licence record.  
• Three weeks before the expiry of the licence, the second renewal reminder letter is issued to the business email address.

These renewal reminder letters provide an estimate of the renewal fee that needs to be paid.

New process

The GLAA will continue to operate the renewal process by email only.

• Six weeks before a licence expires a renewal reminder email will be sent to licence holders. This notification will be sent to the Principal Authority’s (PA) email address.  The email will be sent to the business email address if we do not have an email address for the PA.    

• Three weeks before the expiry of the licence, a second renewal reminder email will be issued to the PA’s email address.

These notifications will no longer provide an estimate of the renewal fee.  A copy of the licence record will no longer be included.  This can now be accessed in the licensing portal as explained below. 

It is important that licence holders check to ensure that we have the correct email address for the PA on the licence record.

Some of our licence holders have previously reported that emails from us are going in to their spam/junk folder, therefore it is imperative that the following email address is added to your ‘safe sender’ list to ensure all emails from the Licensing Team are delivered to your inbox: no-replylicensing@gla.gov.uk

Licensing portal

On receipt of the renewal notification the PA will need to sign into the online licensing portal.  A welcome email, which provides registration Instructions for logging into the portal, will be sent to a PA on 11 May 2021.  If a PA needs the login details to be sent again, please contact itsupport@gla.gov.uk.

You need to use a modern browser such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge Chromium or Firefox to access the portal.  Internet Explorer should not be used.

A PA must then take the following steps in order to renew their licence:

• View their licence details in the portal and ensure that these are up to date. You can advise of any record changes within the portal.  If a PA does not notify the GLAA of any changes, it will be taken that the details shown remain correct.  Changes should be notified to the GLAA within 20 working days of the change happening.  Not informing the GLAA when the change happens could be a breach of Licensing Standard 1.4.  There are now some new security questions being shown in the licence record – see below.
• Check the business’s annual turnover in the GLAA regulated sectors that was declared on the licence for the previous renewal year. If the turnover has changed, a revised figure must be provided.  This figure will be used to calculate the renewal fee.  Declared turnover may be checked as part of a future compliance inspection to ensure the correct fee has been paid.  Licence holders risk having their licence revoked if they deliberately under estimate turnover to benefit from a lower fee level. 

• A PA should then follow the online instructions where they will be provided with information on the fee that must be paid in order to renew the licence.

Additional instructions will be provided in the renewal notification reminder.

Paying the renewal fee

A PA can pay the renewal fee through the secure online payment facility within the portal.

Renewal fees can alternatively be paid outside of the portal by either BACS, FPS or international credit transfers.  Further details can be found within the portal when a licence is due for renewal. 

From 10 May 2021 we will no longer accept payments by cheque or bankers draft.

New security questions

There are new security questions in the licence record which provide additional tests so that we can confirm that the PA and all other individuals named within the licence record are fit and proper persons.  These questions will ensure that licence holders are being tested against all aspects of the fit and proper criteria at Licensing Standard 1.1.    

During the renewal process the PA must notify us if the answer is Yes to any of following questions:

• Have any of the individuals named on the licence contravened the requirements and standards of another regulatory authority in the last 12 months? Yes or No. If yes, please provide full details including the names of the individual.
• Have any of the individuals named on the licence been the owner, director or partner, or been concerned in the ownership or management of a business that has gone into insolvency, liquidation or administration whilst being connected with that organisation in the last 5 years? Yes or No. If yes, did this business fail with any associated tax debt? Please provide full details including the name of the business and individual.
• Have any of the individuals named on the licence been investigated, disciplined, censured or criticised by a regulatory or professional body, court or tribunal, whether publicly or privately in matters relating to any business with which you have been involved in the last 5 years? Yes or No. If yes, please provide full details including the name of the individual.
• Have any of the individuals named on the licence been dismissed from, or asked to resign and resigned from, employment or from a position of trust, fiduciary, appointment or similar in the last 5 years? Yes or No.  If yes, please provide full details including the name of the individual.
• Have any of the individuals named on the licence been disqualified from acting in any managerial capacity? Yes or No. If yes, please provide full details including the name of the individual.

It is important that licence holders check the answers to these questions with all individuals shown within their licence.

A licence holder’s answers to these questions will be taken as No if we are not informed otherwise.  There may be implications for your licence if you fail to disclose information to these questions.

Please note existing licence holders are not required to provide answers to these new questions until the start of their renewal process unless they are adding new individuals onto their licence record after 11 May 2021.

Your responsibilities

It is the responsibility of every licence holder to ensure that they remain licensed.  The licence expiry date is printed on the licence certificate.  To ensure the licence is renewed before it expires, the renewal payment must be received by the GLAA, and this must clear in our account, before the expiry date.  If it is not received and cleared in time, the licence will expire, and you may have to reapply for a new licence, paying the full application cost. 

Further information

If you any further queries, please contact the GLAA helpline on 0345 602 5020 or email licensing@gla.gov.uk.

Find out more: The latest news and updates from the GLAA

PDF version of this Brief: GLAA Brief 70 - New GLAA licence renewal process