Councils split on licence fee dates
Councils are split on when to ask for annual fees for premises licences, a straw poll by the Morning Advertiser has found.
The MA contacted 20 councils across England and Wales and found 10 are asking for fees to be paid on the anniversary of the licence being accepted.
Another six are demanding payment on 24 November, the anniversary of the second appointed day (when the Licensing Act went live).
Two councils want the fees to be paid in October and another two are undecided.
The findings support fears that licensees face a "postcode lottery" over when they have to pay the fees.
The MA reported last week that the issue is causing huge confusion among councils.
Current advice from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) is for the fees to be paid on the anniversary of the licence being approved. However, the DCMS has said it is "working towards" a single payment date.
To show that policies can differ between neighbouring authorities, the MA contacted all seven councils in Norfolk.
Five of them are demanding fees on the anniversary of the licence being accepted and two are waiting until 24 November.
Tony Gent, head of licensing at North Norfolk District Council, which is asking for the fees on 24 November, said: "What better date could you have than 12 months from the second appointed day? It's the fairest way."
But Alex Evans, licensing manager at South Norfolk District Council, said: "We intend to do it on the anniversary [of the licence being accepted]. Some people might think that's unfair but this is our understanding of the Licensing Act Guidance."
Bedford Borough Council is asking for payments on the anniversary of licences being granted but it would not chase payments until October. This followed discussions with local brewer Charles Wells, which said it favoured all payments being made around the same time.
Explaining the decision, Bedford's licensing manager Keith Simmonds said: "Most of the applications had been granted by that stage (October last year) and it's close enough to the second appointed day when venues gained the benefits of the licence."
