Agenda item - Licensing Fees 2020/2021 (new)

Report of the Directorate of Housing, Neighbourhoods & Communities.

RESOLVED:  That the Committee accepted the recommendations set out in

paragraph 2.1 of the report.

16.1    Jim Whitelegg, Regulatory Manager introduced the report, highlighting the fact that the fees referred to were set by the Government and were the maximum ceiling amount.  These had been raised by 2% and the animal licence fees on page 33 were above the rate of inflation.

16.2    Councillor Hill queried the big increases for animal fees and the Regulatory Manager confirmed that they had checked the DEFRA reports regarding the £480 charge.

16.3    Councillor Simson also queried the increases and asked if anything had been done to reduce the renewal costs since she felt it would discourage people from registering. The Regulator Manager confirmed that there was a mistake in paragraph 3.22 which should read September 2019 not 2018.

16.4   Councillor Deane queried the figure regarding Gardner Street with an annual fee of £510 and the Regulatory Manager confirmed that pitches could opt for this.

16.5    Councillor Wares asked about the council’s view on the  taxi disagreement and the Regulatory Manager replied that they did not receive any objections or negative feedback.

16.6    There was a discussion about the high costs of animal licences with the Chair stating that there was a potential for some people to make a good profit of dog boarding charging £25 – 30 per night for up to 4 dogs. Councillor Wares stated that the average cash increases of £44 did not sit comfortably with him and that this was a lot of money for a recently regulated area.  Councillor Appich said that there should be a table of the trading account from other services and Councillor Simson agreed there should be a breakdown of costs with difference costs for commercial breeders.  The Regulatory Manager stated that animal licence legislation  was a new area and that there had been no previous legislation in place.  Councillor Hill asked if procedurally there may be a way to approve all costs except the renewals, which she felt were disproportionate to new applicant fees.  The Legal Advisor confirmed that the legislation was very prescriptive on this issue and the Regulatory Manager confirmed that this was essentially a cost recovery.

16.7    RESOLVED:  That the Committee accepted the recommendations set out in paragraph 2.1 of the report.