A licence is required from the council for the operation of pleasure boats to be let for hire to members of the public, or to be used for carrying passengers for hire. A further licence is required for the boatman in charge of or navigating such boats.

We will licence a motor pleasure boat to any person wishing to carry 12 people or under, upon a boat (not at sea). The boat must be fully operated by a qualified and licensed boatman, who in turn will require a licence to be in charge of or navigate the boat.

We will not issue a licence for a pleasure boat for use on a canal owned or managed by the British Waterways Board. Applications for use on such canals should be referred to the British Waterways Board.

We will also not issue a Pleasure Boat Licence for vessels that go to sea and carry more than 12 passengers. These are licensed under the Board of Trade Regulations and for applications for this purpose please refer to the Board of Trade. For journeys out to sea you should also seek advice and information from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Apply to operate a pleasure boat

Please follow this link for an application to operate a pleasure boat.

You must make arrangements for the Gloucester Harbour Trust to carry out an inspection of your boat(s). Please note: The fee for the Harbour Trust Inspection is not included in the application fee and this must be paid separately to the Harbour Trust by the applicant.

Gloucester Harbour Trustees The Docks Sharpness Berkley Gloucestershire GL13 9UD

Tel: 01453 811913

You will be required to submit the inspection report from Gloucester Harbour Trust to the Licensing Section. The application will not be processed until such report is received.

The person in charge of or navigating the boat will be required to submit a record of their unspent convictions or evidence that they have no convictions, to assess the suitability of those carrying passengers. In order to obtain this record you will need to contact Disclosure Scotland and request a Basic Disclosure.

The application will be deferred to the Licensing and Regulatory Committee for a decision to grant or refuse the application and the applicant will be notified accordingly.

This authority is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided for the prevention and detection of fraud. It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes. For further information, see NFI information on MCC website