Purpose

The functions of the Council’s Licensing
Service are multifaceted and are designed to be, as far as
possible, self-financing without recourse to the General
Fund.
The vast majority of functions fulfilled
by the Team are statutory and therefore must be carried out in
order for the Council as Licensing Authority to fulfil its
obligations. There are a range of specialist services that the
Council needs to access as part of its duty to ensure legal
compliance, protect public safety and maintain
standards.
The Cabinet Member
for Public Protection has been consulted and agrees with this
decision.
This Significant
Operational Decision advises of new charges to be put in place as
well as revised charges put in place by Specialist Service
Providers as nominated by the Council as Licensing Authority.

Expert Medical Advice Specialist Service

The Council has an arrangement in place for expert medical advice
in relation to the ability of licensed hackney carriage and private
hire drivers (current and new) to meet Group II Medical Standards.
On occasion, reports are referred onto Dr. Hinton as Councils
Nominated Medical Advisor for comment and action. This helps to
ensure licensed drivers remain fit and proper to hold a licence,
with public safety at the centre of the licensing regime. His
expert advice also helps to protect against risk and reputation
issues for the Authority.

Where there is a requirement for a case to be further referred to
Dr Hinton for comment, this cost must be met by the individual in
question, be it an existing licensed driver or a new
applicant.

Whilst discussions are in place regarding this arrangement to
ensure value for money, this is a highly specialist service
provided by only 2 suppliers (one of which is Dr Hinton). This
expert advice service is used on an ad hoc basis when issues arise.
Dr Hinton is increasing his costs (after over a decade) to
£50 plus VAT so approximately £60 per enquiry.

There is a need to factor in Officer time in scrutinizing Group II
Reports. seeking the advice of and responding to the feedback from
Dr Hinton and actioning "next steps."

The cost will increase from £48.60 to £70 per case,
payable by the applicant/licensed driver as required. This fee will
come into effect immediately.

Animal Activity Licensing

The Council as Licensing Authority are responsible for all animal
activity licensing and this service is limited to cost recovery,
without recourse to the General Fund. It has been agreed that the
following additional fees be introduced, to cover the various
activities required to fulfil the Licensing Authority’s
obligations and that they be implemented immediately. These are in
addition to those already approved. Charges would apply to the
following activities:
- Dog daycare (Commercial)
- Home Boarding
- Boarding For Cats and Dogs
- Hiring Out Horses
- Exhibition of Animals
- Sale of Animals as pets
- Breeding

Licence Variation – this would include changes during the
licence term, including the number of animals used, a change in
layout and other modifications to licence to apply to all of the
above activities - £250

Re-score - to apply to all the above activities except Exhibition
of Animals where a premises seeks to be re-scored during the
currency of a licence (often following actions to address action
points and improve the setting) - £160

Appeal Rating Decision – to apply to all the above activities
except Exhibition of Animals - £150

Copy of Licence - £10.50

Further, confirming the Arrangers Licence fee (already approved),
where provision is made for Home Boarding by an "arranging host"
body for a number of "hosts" settings and individuals to provide
home boarding for dogs - £189.90

Content

Adopt the new/updated fees and charges.

Alternative options considered

Option 1 - Do not increase fees where these
are already in place. This means that the cost of providing the
function is not met and the costs will have to be met from the
General Fund.

Option 2 - As above