Issue - meetings

Issue - meetings

Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and approval of associated licence fees and charges.

Meeting: 26/11/2018 - Council (Item 58)

58 Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and approval of associated licence fees and charges. pdf icon PDF 126 KB

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services submitted a report to the General Purposes and Licensing Committee meeting on 22 October 2018 to bring to the Committee’s attention the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and to seek approval of associated licence fees and charges.

 

The General Purposes Licensing Committee agreed the recommendations in that report.  However, the delegation to the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services detailed in that report is no longer valid as the specific post no longer exists.  Accordingly the delegation in the second recommendation to Council has been revised to reflect the requirements of the Constitution (Paragraph 10.2: Responsibilities and Proper Officers, “Proper Officer” means the Officer designated below by the Council for the purpose of this Scheme or in the absence of such designation, the Chief Executive.)

 

Councillor Clarkson, Chair of the General Purposes Licensing Committee, or the Monitoring Officer will present the report.

 

Recommendation: the General Purposes Licensing Committee recommends Full Council to:

1.     agree the licence fees and charges as set out in Appendix A of the report;

2.     delegate animal welfare licensing responsibilities to the Chief Executive.

Minutes:

Council considered a report of the Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services, submitted to the General Purposes and Licensing Committee meeting on 22 October 2018 detailing the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and seeking approval of associated licence fees and charges.

 

Councillor Clarkson, Chair of the General Purposes Licensing Committee presented the report and undertook to provide a written response to a question about the pricing structure for the licence fees and charges.

 

Councillor Clarkson moved the recommendations which were adopted on being seconded and put to the vote.

 

Council resolved to:

1.     agree the licence fees and charges as set out in Appendix A of the report;

2.     delegate animal welfare licensing responsibilities to the Chief Executive.

 


Meeting: 22/10/2018 - General Purposes Licensing Committee (Item 12)

12 Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and approval of associated licence fees and charges. pdf icon PDF 141 KB

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services has submitted a report to bring to the Committee’s attention the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and  to seek approval of associated licence fees and charges.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services had submitted a report to bring to the Committee’s attention the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and  to seek approval of associated licence fees and charges.

 

The Licensing Officer introduced the report. The Regulations  came into force on 01 October 2018 and  provided a much needed consolidation of previous animal welfare legislation, some of which had not been reviewed since 1925. 

 

The new legislation outlines the general conditions which licence holders must meet. These were national conditions which cannot be amended. The legislation allows licensing authorities to charge a reasonable amount to cover the cost of considering the grant, renewal or variation of a licence, assessing compliance and enforcement against unlicensed operators.

 

The Regulations covered 5 broad areas: selling animals as pets; providing or arranging for the provision of boarding for cats or dogs; hiring out horses; dog  breeding; and keeping or training animals for exhibition.

 

While dog breeders and members of the Kennel club, for example, might be expected to be aware of the new Regulations, many other members of the public who would be affected by the requirements would not. While DEFRA was the lead organisation for these matters, there was an emerging  expectation that local authorities would take the lead in publicising the new requirements and the Council would use a variety of  social media and other means to do so.

 

The Licensing Officer explained that the Regulations included a number of exemptions to prevent them from being unduly onerous for people who might, for example, want to sell puppies occasionally on a domestic rather than commercial basis. The Regulations also permitted a flexible licensing system to allow authorities to licence for a period and fee that was proportionate to the risks of a particular case or application. 

 

The Licensing Officer concluded by observing that following publication,  a national petition had been launched, seeking improvements to the Regulations and accompanying  guidance  and which might result in some fine-tuning of both in the future.

 

The Committee resolved to:

 

1.    Note the coming into effect of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and consequent powers and duties;

2.    Agree the licence fees and charges as set out in Appendix A and recommend them to Council; and 

3.    Recommend Council delegate animal welfare licensing responsibilities to Head of Planning, Sustainable Development and Regulatory Services.