Stafford businesses to face £100 charge for pavement licence

The Government has announced “pavement licence” schemes to allow venues to serve food and drink at tables outside their premises.

The measures, which have just gone through Parliament, aim to make it easier for hospitality businesses to add al-fresco areas by cutting the time it takes to obtain a licence.

The normal 28-day period of public consultation on a licence application would be cut to just seven days and if a local authority does not determine the application within the set timescale, permission can be granted automatically.

Stafford Borough Council is due to consider proposals for a local pavement licence scheme at its full meeting today. If they are approved businesses will be able to apply for the licences from tomorrow.

Councillor Jonathan Price, cabinet member for environment, said: “The hospitality industry has been hit very hard in the last few months and as we emerge from lockdown, the use of pavements for cafes, bars and restaurants has assumed a new importance given the evidence of a lower risk of spreading coronavirus outdoors.

“We hope this new legislation will provide the opportunity to some of those businesses to utilise space outside to attract more customers – especially given the constraints still in place to prevent the spread of the virus.”

Authorities can charge up to £100 per application to cover administrative costs.

But a report to Tuesday’s council meeting said: “The maximum fee will mean that the council will make a loss on these applications because the fee cap does mean that we are not able to operate on a full cost recovery basis.

“Officers did consider whether recommending setting a lower fee to support business recovery was appropriate. However, we understand the majority, if not all Staffordshire (local authorities) are going with a £100 fee.

“It is considered that more suitable support to businesses be the length of time the licence is granted for to enable security and certainty. For this reason, officers are recommending the licences run until 30 September 2021. This reduces the burden on businesses having to renew a licence and reduces the time officers spend on this licensing regime.

“As the country emerges from lockdown, pavement cafes have assumed a new importance given the scientific evidence of a lower risk of spreading coronavirus outdoors. With the reopening of restaurants, cafes, bars and public houses from 4 July 2020, the pavement licensing regime set out in the Business and Planning Act will offer the hospitality sector a simpler administrative route to providing an outdoor environment for customers.

“The Government hopes this will give a boost to the hospitality sector, which is particularly badly hit by coronavirus, allowing premises to trade to as full an extent as possible given the constraints placed on capacity by social distancing.”