Pavement seating fee for cafes set to treble

If approved, the new fees would be introduced from 1 August

Pubs and cafes in North Yorkshire will have to pay three times as much for outdoor seating in front of their premises under new council plans.

At present, businesses are charged between £0 and £100 for the cost of a pavement licence, with the fee set to rise to £397.41 for new licences and £301.28 for renewals.

A report by North Yorkshire Council officers said the increase was needed to ensure the council covered the cost of issuing the licences.

If approved, the new fees would be introduced from 1 August with the council able to issue licences for up to two years.

The report detailed how prior to the local government reorganisation in North Yorkshire, the seven district licensing authorities operated different pavement licensing regimes.

It said the cost of the licences were based on the district authority calculations, with some not charging a fee at all.

The report said: "Now, North Yorkshire has one licensing team, it is important to harmonise the pavement licence fee throughout the council area."

Officers said the increased fees had been calculated based on the costs incurred by the licensing service, which were determined by several factors including staffing, accommodation and legal costs.

The report said the authority could consider retaining the existing fees but said that would mean "the service would be running at a loss, and recovered unfairly elsewhere."

"Any failure to recover costs permitted by statute would require an unnecessary subsidisation of the licensing regime at the expense of the council's taxpayers," the report stated.

Senior councillors have been recommended to approve the increase at a meeting on Friday.

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