Issue - meetings

Claire Perry, Licensing Partnership Manager, introduced the report on Animal Establishment Fees and explained that a new fee model had been used to ensure that the fee reflects the time taken for the council to process an application.

During discussion it was stated that:

·  The licence was not required to keep animals in one place. An example given was that the licence was not required to keep horses, but would be required if the horses were hired out for riding;

·  Fees would be reviewed annually;

·  A deposit was required for zoos because a specialist vet who was approved by Defra was required to undertake a site visit;

·  Vets fees had been removed from the Animal Establishments fees for riding establishments at the request of the establishments concerned. In future vets fees would be invoiced separately by the Environmental Enforcement team. It was expected that the separation of vets fees in this way would lead to a slight increase in cost to the establishments.

·  The fees could not be amended to support smaller businesses differently. Since the ruling in the Hemming v Westminster case it was best practice that the fee charged should reflect the time taken to process the application, and the cost of admin was the same for all applications received. A greater fee could not be charged for some establishments to subsidise the fee for others.

A Member requested that a figure for the minimum and maximum costs for vets fees be provided outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the fee levels as set out in paragraph 2.7 of the report of the Head of Housing and Community Services – Animal Establishment Fees be approved for implementation as of 4 July 2016.

For – 9  Against – 0  Abstain - 2