The Executive Director for Communities and People has submitted a report to seek agreement of the licence fees for 2024/25 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged.

Recommendation: That the Licensing & Gambling Acts Committee resolves to:

1.     Agree the licence fees and charges for 2024/25 as set out in the Appendix 1 and recommend them to Council for adoption.

The Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee considered a report by the Executive Director for Communities and People seeking agreement of the licence fees for 2024/25 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged.

Joshua Curnow, Supervising Senior Licensing Officer informed the Committee that fees under the Licensing Act and the Gambling Act were either set by statute and not available for amendment, or set to the statutory limit. Only charges under the Miscellaneous category may be changed on the agreement of the Committee.

The Licensing Officer explained that fees had remained unchanged for many years despite an increase in the number of applications received by the authority. It was suggested that a breakdown of costs for certain functions could be produced to help understand current spend against incoming revenue. For comparison, it was noted that fees in other service areas which are controlled by the authority had generally risen due to inflationary pressures.

Councillor Katherine Miles queried whether there was scope for local authorities to write to central government to express concerns relating to certain fees set by legislation. Councillor Louise Upton indicated that the point raised was potentially within her cabinet portfolio and noted to discuss the issue with the Executive Director for Communities and People to assess the licensing functions being subsidised by other Council operations and determine a viable course of action. She thanked Councillor Miles for raising an important point.

The Licensing & Gambling Acts Committee resolved to:

1. Agree the licence fees and charges for 2024/25 as set out in the Appendix 1 and recommend them to Council for adoption.
2. Request that the Chair of the Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee calls on the Cabinet Member for Health and Transport on behalf of the Committee to:

3. Request that a report updating the actions taken be brought back at the next meeting of the Committee.