Agenda item

Report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services

The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services which sought approval to the introduction of a discretionary chargeable service for the provision of pre-application advice for licensing applications, and a check and send service for volume applications.

The Licensing Team (the team) are committed to working with applicants early in the application process to assist them with submitting a valid application and to ensure that the application would be acceptable. The licensing regime is often challenging and could deter some applicants from making an application, so the team proactively encourage pre-application advice as it would provide applicants with clarity and reassurance about their application. In addition, it provided an opportunity for the team to highlight any issues or concerns with the proposals.

Providing pre-application advice prior to an application being made is a discretionary service. Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 permits this discretionary service as it is classed as conducive or incidental in relation to carrying out the licensing function.

Currently, the team offers pre-application advice free of charge to applicants who request it. On average, this could take up to an hour and longer if a site visit was deemed necessary.

The team deal with a variety of licensable activities under a range of different legislation, with the following being the most complex and time consuming:

-  Licensing Act 2003: new premises, variations, minor variations, transfers, and variation to the designated premises supervisor.

-  Gambling Act 2005: new premises, variations and transfers

-  Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013: new and renewals

-  Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1972: sexual entertainment venues, sex establishments and street trading consents

Under the licensing legislation, the Licensing Authority is both responsible for the administration and determination of applications and although it has a statutory duty to administer applications, that duty does not extend to the provision of pre-application advice and assistance.

In 2021, the team dealt with nearly 500 applications under the legislation detailed above with the most time-consuming ones requiring some form of statutory consultation with the responsible authorities. It was proposed that the discretionary pre-application fees be applied to applications made under the legislation listed above because those applications tend to be more complex and could potentially require more officer time.

The proposal to introduce a discretionary chargeable pre-application service would be beneficial to the Council and to the applicants. The introduction of fees to formalise the giving of advice would be covered within the costs of running the service as appose to being at the expense of it.

The level of pre-application advice and the fee charged would be determined by the type of application to be completed. It was proposed that the advice would be charged on an hourly basis depending on the level of support needed by the applicant.

A check and send service would also be made available whereby officers would do a pre-submission validation check to ensure that there were no errors or omissions that may invalidate the application, thus avoiding any delays. This service would be preferable to those who did not require any pre-application advice.

The proposed fees were attached at Appendix A of the report and would be reviewed on an annual basis to determine whether the service could be expanded to cover other types of licence.

It was noted that other authorities were already charging for licensing pre-application advice and a full benchmarking exercise had been undertaken when determining the fees.

The proposal would require a clear separation between officers who would provide pre-application advice and those who would be responsible for the subsequent processing and in some cases, such as minor variations, the determination of an application; to avoid any conflicts from occurring.

Applicants who decided not to take advantage of this service would be signposted to the relevant guidance notes and policies available on the website. And it was important to note that no fees would be charged for straightforward enquiries which could be dealt with quickly either by phone or via email.

Certain premises are exempt from statutory application fees, as set out on the Licensing Act (Fees) Regulations 2005.

Where an application relates to the provision of regulated entertainment only (not alcohol) and where that application was made by or on behalf of an educational institution e.g. a school or a college, or a church, parish or village hall or similar building; no fee is payable on application. Consequently, it was proposed to extend this exemption and not charge for pre-application advice for these premises. 

In considering the report, the Cabinet Member agreed to requests that mosques, temples and other places of worship also be included in the exemption noted above.

RESOLVED that, the Cabinet Member:

1.  Approves the provision of a discretionary chargeable service for licensing pre-application advice.

2.  Adopts the proposed fees set out in Appendix A of the report.