Venison Dealers' Licence

Licensed venison dealers must maintain records of purchases and receipts of venison which are open to inspection by Scottish Natural Heritage and any police officer.

Scottish Natural Heritage require all licensed venison dealers in Scotland to submit their records of all purchases and receipts of venison for the period 1 April - 31 March each year.

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 and 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.

Applications which do not attract any adverse comments or objections are granted by the Chief Solicitor under delegated powers and licences are valid for three years. All other applications require to be referred to the Licensing Committee for determination and you will be advised if your application is being referred to the Licensing Committee.

Applicants who require an interpreter at the Licensing Committee should consult read the following guidance note Guidance on Interpretation Service for Licensing Committee and Board Meetings (Word doc, 22 KB)(opens new window)

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should notify us as soon as you can if your details change or any of the information given in your application becomes out of date due to a change in your circumstances.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 Venison Dealers (PDF, 70 KB)(opens new window)

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 box

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