The Regulatory Licensing Committee of Wandsworth Council was scheduled to meet on Tuesday 4th November 2014 to discuss proposed changes to licence fees and a review of street trading. The meeting's agenda focused on financial adjustments for various licensing functions, aiming to align fees with the costs of administration and compliance.

Review of Licence Fees

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to a review of fees for licences administered by the Director of Public Health. The report proposed that revised licence fees come into effect from 1st January 2015. These proposed changes were made in light of the European Union (EU) Services Directive and a recent Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Hemmings & Others v Westminster City Council. This judgment clarified that local authorities can include costs associated with vetting applicants, granting licences, and compliance monitoring within their authorisation procedures. However, the report stressed that local authorities cannot profit from licence fees or include the costs of enforcing legislation against unlicensed operators.

The report detailed proposed fee increases for a range of licences, including those for:

• Animal Licences/Registrations: Fees for pet shops, animal boarding establishments, private homes boarding animals, dog day creches, performing animals, dangerous wild animals, dog breeding establishments, zoos, and riding establishments were reviewed. The report noted that increases for animal licences reflected fee rises from the Corporation of London, which conducts animal welfare inspections for the council.
• Food: Fees for certificates of surrender of unsound food and certificates of export of food were to remain unchanged.
• Special Treatment Establishments: Fees were structured into low, medium, and high-risk categories, with proposed adjustments for new licences, renewals, and variations. The report highlighted that additional work for licensing body piercing and tattooing therapists had led to a higher fee category.
• Miscellaneous Licences: This included proposed fee adjustments for auction houses, certificates for the shipment of bodies, poisons registrations, hypnotism authorisations, and sex establishments (sex shops, sex cinemas, and sexual entertainment venues). The report noted that the Hemmings v City of Westminster case had a specific impact on sex establishment licence fees, leading to a review and a reduction in some fees, although the council had not processed applications for sex shops or sex cinemas for many years.
• Scrap Metal Dealers: The report mentioned the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013, which revised the regulatory regime for scrap metal recycling and vehicle dismantling industries, with fees to be set by the Executive.
• Explosives: New Explosives Regulations 2014 came into effect on 1st October 2014, consolidating requirements for the manufacture and storage of explosives. The report indicated that fees for explosives licences are statutory and set by the Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations, which had not seen changes since 2010. The annual fee for a licence to supply adult fireworks was noted as £500.

The report recommended that the Regulatory Licensing Committee approve the revised licence fees and proposed refund policies. The refund policy suggested that all withdrawn or unsuccessful applications would be charged for the amount of officer time spent, up to the full fee. The Director of Finance commented that the proposed increases were expected to have a negligible effect on overall income.

Street Trading Review

The committee was also scheduled to consider a review of street trading, with a report by the Directors of Finance and Housing and Community Services to be circulated. No further details on the specific aspects of this review were available in the provided documents.