Agenda item

The Principal Officer (Licensing), Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS)

presented the report and in doing so informed Members that in July 2020 the

Business and Planning Act 2020 was enacted. The legislation was expedited

through Parliament to make provisions relating to the promotion of economic

recovery and growth as the country emerged from various restrictions that had

been put in place in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Part 1 of the Act introduced provisions in England and Wales that put in place

a streamlined process to enable businesses to obtain permission to place

removeable furniture on the highway for use in connection with the sale and

consumption of food and drink. The need for a streamlined process was to

ensure that hospitality businesses could maximise their opportunities to trade

profitably at a time when social distancing requirements guidance remained in

place which impacted the number of customers that they could accommodate

inside their premises.

 

The legislation was put in place very quickly and therefore commenced as soon

as it was enacted. This meant that there was very little time available to put in

place policies and procedures for dealing with applications.

 

Responsibility for issuing the new “pavement licences” was given to district

councils in England, including Bromsgrove District Council.

 

The provisions in Part 1 of the Business and Planning Act 2020 were only

originally intended to remain in place for a temporary period, and section 10 of

the Act originally stated that the provisions would expire at the end of 30

September 2021. The temporary regime was subsequently extended on three

separate occasions before a decision was taken to make it a permanent

licensing regime. The regime was made permanent on 31 March 2024 by virtue

of the commencement of provisions made in the Levelling Up and Regeneration

Act 2023.

 

At the same time as making the regime permanent, some important

amendments were made to the pavement licensing regime including extending

the consultation and determination periods in respect of applications from 7 to

14 days each. The permanent regime also contained new powers to serve

notices and remove furniture that was placed on the highway without

permission.

 

Now that the pavement licensing regime had been made permanent, it was now

necessary to review and revise the Council’s Policy on Pavement Licensing to

ensure that it was fit for purpose and that the policy reflected the amendments

that had been made to the regime since it was first introduced.

 

Members’ attention was drawn to the draft policy, as detailed at Appendix 1 to

the report, that had been drafted with reference to the guidance on pavement

licences as published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and

Communities (DLUHC) on 2^nd April 2024 under section 8 of the Business and

Planning Act 2020.

 

The first two sections of the draft policy set out the background to the licensing

regime, explained the scope and provided assistance in understanding key

terms from the legislation used throughout the document.

 

The draft policy further detailed how people could apply for a licence, how those

applications would be advertised and consulted upon and how they would be

determined. The draft policy also sets out the standard duration of licences and

the conditions that, licences that were granted or deemed to have been granted,

would be subject to.

 

The draft policy also includes a new section, which sets out the approach to be

taken in respect of compliance and enforcement activities in respect of the

pavement licensing regime.

 

Members were asked to note that, before approving the draft policy on

pavement licensing, it was considered best practice to carry out a consultation

exercise with key stakeholders, relevant businesses and the wider public. This

consultation exercise was envisaged to take place over a period of around 8 to

10 weeks and would invite respondents to express their views on the various

matters set out within the policy including:

 

·         The requirements for making an application.

·         The advertising of, and consultation on applications.

·         The standard licence duration.

·         The standard conditions that would apply to licences granted or deemed to be granted.

·         The approach that would be taken to compliance and enforcement activities.

 

The results of the consultation exercise would be reported back to a future

meeting of the Licensing Committee for consideration and before Members

were asked to approve the policy.

 

The following was noted and agreed, that page 28 of the main agenda pack,

paragraph number 4.3 be amended as follows: -

 

·       The relevant Ward Member(s) for the District Council (not Borough Council; and that

·       Parish Councils to be included in the list of consultees.

In response to questions from Members, the Principal Officer (Licensing), WRS,

clarified that only furniture placed on highways land was included within the draft policy, privately owned land was not included. With regards to enforcement, officers were still scoping where to store any furniture that needed to be removed by WRS officers where a pavement licence had not been granted.

 

The Principal Officer (Licensing), WRS further clarified that applicants would be

informed within one working day if their application and necessary documents

met all of the required criteria in order for officers to consider and process their

application. As highlighted in the draft policy, applicants would be made aware

that ‘The public consultation period will not commence until the day after a

complete application has been made.’

 

Members were informed that it was not a requirement of the policy for pavement licences to be displayed on the exterior premises. Furniture could be placed on a relevant part of the highway ‘adjacent’ to the premises and not directly outside of the premises, therefore it would not be very practical displaying the licence outside of the premises due to this and potential weather conditions. However, the policy did require that ‘A copy of the licence must be kept on the premises at all times and be available for inspection by a police officer or authorised officer of the local authority.’

 

The Principal Officer (Licensing), WRS, further responded to questions from

Members in respect of fees and if fees were capped, and the fee for a new

application and a renewal application.

 

RESOLVED that

 

a)              subject to the amendments as detailed in the preamble above, the draft policy on pavement licensing, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved for the purpose of consultation with relevant stakeholders; and 

 

b)              the responses received to the consultation be presented to a future meeting of the Licensing Committee.