URL: https://rother.moderngov.co.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=1732

Decision Maker: Licensing and General Purposes Committee

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose: Approval of licensing fees and charges from 1 April 2025

Content: Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Environmental Services, Licensing and Community Safety which outlined the Council’s proposed licensing fees to be charged from 1 April 2025.  The fees were set to recover the full administration costs of issuing licences and costs associated with ensuring compliance with conditions attached to licences, but not the costs associated with the enforcement of unlicensed premises and activities. Members were reminded that, due to the Council’s current financial situation, there was a need to maintain income.   Appendix A to the report set out the discretionary fees proposed to be charged from 1 April 2025, with changes highlighted in red.  Where fees were proposed to increase, they were to be increased by the consumer price index or higher, if justified.  The hiring of horses licence fee included the veterinary inspection costs, which had decreased since last year and therefore reduced accordingly. The Council did not currently licence any sex establishments or zoos.   Environmental Health was a shared service with Wealden District Council (WDC), therefore the Council aimed to charge the same fees for licences issued for Rother and Wealden premises, although each authority set its own fees.    The fees set by the Licensing Act 2003 had not been increased, despite requests by the Local Government Association (LGA). Maximum fees under the Gambling Act 2005 were also set by statute.  The Council charged the maximum amounts. Members recommended and agreed that the Chief Executive, in conjunction with the Chair of the Licensing and General Purposes Committee and WDC, make representations via the local MPs for Rother and Wealden, the LGA and the District Council’s Network, requesting that the Government consider an increase in the fees set by the Licensing Act 2003.      Members raised concerns that the Pavement Licence fees increase appeared disproportionate. These were relatively new licences brought in after COVID-19 lockdowns, replacing licenses granted by East Sussex County Council Highways at a much higher cost. Current government guidance set the maximum fee at £500, but officers advised that this was unreasonable at the current time and the proposed fees would provide a stepped approach to the statutory maximum.   Members of the Committee were supportive of the recommended revised fees for licences from April 2025.   RESOLVED: That:   1)     the licensing fees and charges set out in Appendix A, be approved and applied from 1 April 2025; and   2)     the Chief Executive, in conjunction with the Chair of the Licensing and General Purposes Committee and Wealden District Council, make representations via the local MPs for Rother and Wealden, the Local Government Association and the District Council’s Network, requesting that the Government consider an increase in fees set by the Licensing Act 2003. 

Date of Decision: January 13, 2025