Itinerant Metal Dealer's Licence
In terms of Section 32 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 itinerant metal dealers require to be licensed. The itinerant metal dealer's licensing scheme is administered by the Council's Licensing Team.
The Licensing Team is able to provide general guidance on the scheme but cannot assist you to complete your application form or provide legal advice on whether a licence is required. You should seek legal advice from a solicitor or advice centre if you are unsure as to whether you require a licence.
An itinerant metal dealer means:
a person who carries on a business which consists wholly or substantially of buying or selling for scrap:
- metal articles that are old, broken, worn out or defaced; or
- partly manufactured articles that are made wholly or partly from metal;
- collects articles of either of these kinds by means of visits from place to place; and
- disposes of such articles without causing them to be kept in a metal store or other premises (including disposing or giving custody of the articles to a person who keeps a metal store)
From 2 October 2023, there will be new tax-related requirements put in place by the UK Government in connection with applications for certain types of licence across Scotland and Northern Ireland. The requirements have been in place in England and Wales since April 2022. In Scotland, this applies to the following types of licence-: If you are applying for one of the licences above for the first time, we will ask you to read HMRC guidance on what you need to do to be properly registered for tax in the future and provide confirmation that you have done so. Find out more at Confirm your responsibilities when applying for a licence (opens new window) If you are applying to renew one of the licences above you'll need to complete an online tax check with HMRC prior to submitting your application. Find out more at Complete an online tax check (opens new window) Please note that if you are a new applicant and have held the same type of licence anywhere in the UK within the 12 months preceding your application the law requires that you complete the tax check with HMRC referred to above for renewals. Applicants and licence holders should be aware that failure to comply with the above requirements prevents the Council from accepting and considering their application. About the tax check The check should take a few minutes every few years and is simply to confirm that applicants for licences are appropriately registered for tax. Applicants complete the tax check through the GOV.UK Government Gateway website, you will require a Government Gateway User ID and Password. You will only need to answer a few questions to tell HMRC how you pay any tax that may be due on income you earn from your licensed trade. If you do not already have a Government Gateway account, you must sign up to get one at the start of the process for completing the online tax check. When you've completed the tax check, you'll get a 9-character code, tax check codes are valid for 120 days. You must give this code to the Licensing Team when you make your application. We cannot proceed with your application until the tax check is completed and we have checked your code with HMRC. Please note we will not have access to information about your tax affairs. If you are applying to renew a licence and fail to provide a valid tax check code your licence will expire on whichever of the following dates is the latest:
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.
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. 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.
If you are a current licence holder and you are charged with any crime or offence, or are issued with a fixed penalty or an alternative to prosecution (including all breaches of road traffic law) you should contact the Licensing Team immediately to provide us with details of the offence.
You can access a copy of the council's standard conditions for licensed itinerant metal dealers which came into effect on 2 August 2016 from the downloads section on this page.
Any member of the public can make an objection or representation about an itinerant metal 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)
By law the council has a period of 9 months in which to determine an application for an itinerant metal dealer's licence from the date on which a complete application is received.
The council is legally required to send a copy of your application to Police Scotland. In accordance with the legislation a copy of your application will also be sent to the council's Trading Standards service.
If there are any comments from advisors regarding your application, we will notify you accordingly. If any advisor has suggested that a condition or conditions are applied to your licence, we will ask you whether you accept the condition or conditions they have suggested.
If there are no adverse comments from advisors, or if any condition suggested by an advisor is accepted by you, your application will be granted by the Chief Solicitor under delegated powers.
If there are any such adverse comments regarding your application, or an advisor has suggested a condition which you do not accept, your application will be referred to the council's Licensing Committee, for the Committee to decide whether to grant your application.
You will be notified if your application requires to be referred to the Licensing Committee. The Committee meets on a monthly basis. You will be given the opportunity to attend and/or be represented at the meeting at which your application is to be considered and determined by the Committee.
If your application is granted we will contact you to let you know and arrange for your licence to be posted to you.
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.
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. For the avoidance of doubt this is the only information available to members of the public Current List of Itinerant Metal Dealer Licence Holders (PDF, 90 KB)(opens new window)
Please send details of your complaint in writing to the Licensing Team by email or letter using the contacts details available on this page.
Please contact Police Scotland by calling 101 or by email to: LothianScotBordersLicensingWest@Scotland.police.uk
