Agenda item

The Committee received a report from the Licensing Manager (Chiltern and South Bucks) on pavement licensing. The Business and Planning Act 2020 obtained Royal Assent on 22 July 2020. The Act introduced a number of powers and requirements on local authorities that affected how they deal with a variety of issues, with the aim of supporting local businesses and helping economic recovery as the COVID-19 restrictions put in place by Government continue to be eased. The two most relevant sections of the Act cover:

• The change in approach to outdoor furniture provision for relevant businesses (as defined in the Act) to enable them to increase their trading space ‘pavement licences’.
• Relaxation of off sales of alcohol for licensed premises

The new powers were temporary, and were originally in place until 30 September 2021, however there are new draft regulations (Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021) which would amend The Business and Planning Act 2020, extending these powers to 30 September 2022, which were approved by parliament on 20 July 2021.

In order to promote consistency in approach, it was recommended that subject to the new regulations coming into effect, the Council continued to issue pavement licences for the maximum permitted length. This would mean that although premises with existing licences would have to re-apply, their newly issued licences would be valid until 30th September 2022. 38 licences issued to date would expire at the end of September 2021.  Similarly, all new licences issued would also be valid until 30th September 2022. It was also recommended that the same fee of £100 for each pavement licence be retained in line with the maximum amount specified by Government. This would go part way towards the costs of the provision of this service and the associated regulatory activity. The cost to the service was £300 per licence.

During discussion the following questions were responded to:

·         Clarity was sought on the definition of street furniture particularly pillars and temporary roofing. The Licensing Manager reported that there were conditions on each licence to make sure that there was accessibility and no obstruction to ensure health and safety requirements were met. The Transition Head of Licensing, Cemeteries & Crematoria Services also responded that the powers introduced were a temporary lift on planning permissions on temporary structures outside in order to assist business which would have previously required planning consent. However, if this guidance was made permanent (which was currently being looked at by the Government) then the Council would feedback to the Government the importance of criteria for long term structures. Inspections were carried out when any concerns were reported to the Licensing Team. It was predominantly reactive as it was part of a permissive regime to help businesses. Planning permission exemptions were attached to the licence when issued and would be extended with the licence.

·         A Member commented that the Council was losing £200 on each licence and if the Government was thinking about making this permanent how this could be funded in the future. The Licensing Manager reported that they would definitely be raising this as part of the Government consultation.

·         Reference was made to £7,600 which had been lost to the Council and the Transition Head of Licensing, Cemeteries & Crematoria Services responded that this came from the licensing budget and had to be offset against any other income. Only certain parts of licencing could be self-funding for example taxi licensing income could only be used for taxi licensing services.

On a vote being taken (proposed by Cllr Town and seconded by Cllr Southworth) with seven Councillors in favour it was RESOLVED that

1. the changes to the Business & Planning Act 2020 introduced by The Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 be noted.
2. the proposed duration of pavement licences, subject to The Business and Planning Act 2020 (Pavement Licences) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 coming into effect be confirmed.
3. the level of fee charged in respect of applications for pavement licences issued under the Business & Planning Act 2020 be confirmed.