Agenda item

Ms Sharon Dyball presented the report. She explained that before the fees and charges working group meeting in December 2024, the animal welfare licensing fees, for inspections undertaken by the City of London on the council’s behalf had not been known, These had been received in January 2025 however, and the fees had increased approximately 40% or 50% on previous years. This increase was largely due to higher costs being levied by the City of London for inspections and more accurately reflect the amount of time involved in the inspection and writing the report. These costs are recharged in full to licensing applicants as part of the application fee. A qualified animal health inspector is required to undertake inspections under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, which is outsourced to the City of London as the council does not have a qualified officer in-house.

In response to a question regarding the qualification required to carry out inspections, Ms Dyball explained that a recognised qualification was needed, and that the City of London carried out most of the London boroughs’ inspections, as most councils did not have their own in-house experienced team. The fees they charged for inspections were the same as for the other London boroughs.

In response to a question regarding the number of animal premises in the borough that required a licence, Ms Dyball responded by saying that there were six premises in the borough, with eight licences, as two premises had a “pet a pooch” licence as well as the standard daycare licence. She also explained that there were no premises in the borough licensed for hiring out horses.

The Committee RESOLVED that the proposed fees set out in Tables 1-5 in Appendix A of the officer’s report for the period commencing 1 April 2025 be approved.

Action: Director of Transport and Regulatory Services