Agenda item

The Committee received a report seeking an extension to the waiver of the discretionary fee payable by businesses seeking a pavement licence.

Pavement Licences had been introduced, by the Business and Planning Act 2020, with the intention of making it easier for premises serving food and drink to seat and serve customers outside.  The Act allowed licensing authorities to levy a charge of up to £100 to cover the cost of administering the licence application process and initially Surrey Heath chose to charge £100, the maximum allowable.  However, in order to help support local businesses recover from the impacts of the Government’s pandemic restrictions, the Licensing Committee agreed in March 2021 to waive charges and refund any payments already received.  Regulations extending the provisions of the Business and Planning Act 2020 until 30^th September 2022 had come into effect on 20^th July 2021 and the Authority has subsequently received 15 applications for Pavement Licence.  In line with the Licensing Committee’s decision the application fees had been waived for the applicants.

In view of the time limited nature of Pavement Licence legislation, allied to a desire to continue to support local businesses, it was proposed that the Authority continue to waive the application fee until the extended powers for pavement licences elapsed on 30^th September 2022.  The Committee was informed that the proposals had been discussed with the Finance Portfolio Holder who had endorsed the proposed extension. 

It was confirmed that if the Government extended the Pavement Licence then the decision to waive application fees would be reviewed.

It was agreed that the Business Portfolio Holder would be asked to promote the Pavement Licence through his networks.

It was confirmed that councillors would be informed of any applications for Pavement Licences received from businesses in the wards they represented.

RESOLVED that the discretionary licence fee of £100 for all new Pavement Licence applications, made under the Business and Planning Act 2020 is waived in light of the current and ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.