The Head of Licensing Partnership presented the report which invited Members to consider introducing an innovative new scheme designed to help licence applications by offering the provision of a (paid for) pre-application advice service for applications relating to various types of premises licensing as well as a ‘check and send’ type service for volume applications.

In response to queries, it was clarified that licensing were not charging as much as other private service providers because they were not able to make a profit, only recover costs. The Head of Licensing Partnership advised that the service would be a benefit to applicants as it would offer a much more competitive price for giving advice compared to the private sector, which would be of particular benefit to small businesses who might otherwise either pay more than they needed to or not seek advice at all because of the cost, and also to the licensing service because they would receive  fewer applications that could not be processed due to applicants not getting the correct advice. This would make the overall licensing service more efficient.

Resolved: That it be recommended to Cabinet that

a)     the provision of a (paid for) pre-application advice service for applications relating to various types of premises licensing (a list of types as attached at Appendix A to the report) as well as a ‘check and send’ type service for volume applications, be approved; and

b)   the proposed fees, as set out in Appendix B to the report, be adopted.