Increase in animal establishment licence fees approved by councillors

Elgan Hearn – Local Democracy Reporter

Animal establishment licence fees are set to rise again for one local authority, but the council is still predicting it will make a loss.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way committee on Thursday, April 25 councillors received a report from animal health team manager Gavin Jones following an annual review of the fees.

The consultation took place in January with all licensees and the fee increase will be backdated to start from April 1.

The slight increase in the charges should have seen an increase of £333 collected by the department.

This is if the number of licensees had remained the same as last year.

Lower

But due according to the report there are fewer pet shops and a reduction in numbers in other categories sees the department predict a £54 loss this year.

Mr Jones said: “You’ll note that the projected income is slightly lower and that’s due to the yearly fluctuations in the amount of premises we have.

“The proposed fees are in line with Local Government Association (LGA) guidance and are determined detailing all the aspects of the licensing regime.

He explained that the fees cover the cost staff processing licences from application stage through to its issue, and also administration including training, equipment, travelling and inspection.

Mr Jones added that any vet bills would be invoiced to licensees and “recovered in full.”

Mr Jones said that in comparison with other Welsh local authorities, Powys was”: “not the cheapest it’s by far not the most expensive.”

A vote to approve the recommendation was put forward by Cllr Gareth E Jones and was unanimously supported by the committee.

The licence fee charges will be:

Home Boarder/Day Care £215 – up from £213 in 2023/2024.
Commercial kennels/cattery – £291 – up from £288 in 2023/2024.
Dog Breeder – category one – £378– up from £374 in 2023/2024.
Dog Breeder – category two – £434– up from £429 in 2023/2024.
Dog Breeder – category three – £489– up from £483 in 2023/2024.
Pet shop – £326 – up from £322 in 2023/2024.
Dangerous wild animals – £663 – up from £656 in 2023/2024.
Riding establishment – category one – £ 379– up from £375 in 2023/2024.
Riding establishment – category two – £423 – up from £419 in 2023/2024.

Fees for a Zoo go up to £2682 from £2597 – but there are no licensees in this category for Powys.