Revocation

A licence will be revoked if:

• The licence holder is not the person to whom the named licence should have been issued.
• The licence holder does not have the training qualifications that were claimed on application.
• The licence holder receives a conviction, caution or warning for a relevant offence.
• The licence holder loses, or did not have when they applied, the right to remain or work in the UK.

A licence may also be revoked if:

• The licence holder breaks the conditions on which their licence was issued.
• We receive non-conviction information suggesting that there is a case for having the licence withdrawn.
• The licence holder becomes subject to detention because of mental disorder.

If we judge it necessary to revoke a licence we will write to the licence holder, providing the basis for our decision and inviting them to supply further information. They will then have 21 days from the date on our decision letter to provide a response. Their response may address any factual errors in our assessment (for example, an error in respect of their identity, or an error in assessing their competence or criminal history) and we may also invite them to provide mitigating information.

If we do not receive a response from the licence holder within the 21 days the decision to revoke their licence will automatically take effect. We will not write again to confirm this. Once the decision to revoke their licence takes effect they will have 21 days in which to exercise a right of appeal to a Magistrate's Court, Sheriff Court or District Court.

If the licence holder does send in a response we will give it due consideration, and we will write to them to inform them of our final decision. If we decide it is still necessary to revoke their licence they will then have 21 days from the date of this second decision letter in which to exercise a right of appeal to a Magistrate's Court, Sheriff Court or District Court.

Suspension

Licence suspensions have immediate effect. We will consider suspension only where we are reasonably satisfied that a clear threat to public safety could exist if we do not suspend the licence. This usually means that a serious offence has allegedly taken place, where the licence holder has been charged but bailed. We will suspend a licence in other circumstances if it is in the public interest to do so.

If we judge it necessary to suspend a licence, we will write to inform the licence holder of this, providing the basis for our decision which will have immediate effect. The licence holder will then have 21 days in which to exercise a right of appeal to a Magistrate's Court, Sheriff Court or District Court. At the same time they may also wish to tell us of any factual errors in our assessment - for example, an error in respect of their identity, or an error in assessing their competence or criminal history.