Agenda item

The Committee received a report from the Senior Specialist, Licensing and Community Safety, Mike Smith.  In November 2022, the Licensing Committee approved a draft policy concerning the councillors’ responsibilities in respect of animal activity licensing.  A number of changes were implemented to the way in which animal activities were regulated.  A licence from the local authority was required if you are breeding dogs, boarding dogs or cats, hiring out horses, operating a pet shop or having animals perform for an exhibition.  Following the legislative changes in 2018, the Council adopted a policy in 2019 in respect of the licensing activities involving animals, which provided a consistent framework and set out how the Council aimed to discharge its duties.  The policy was then reviewed after 5 years in November 2022 and the Committee approved a draft policy for public consultation.  The main changes to the policy were that the criteria had been updated which allowed the Council to achieve the RSPCA Gold Paw Print for Animal Licensing.  Interested parties were written to as part of the consultation phase such as the police, DEFRA and DEFRA licence holders.  Only one response was received following the consultation from the Kennel Club.  The Kennel Club raised concerns about the updated guidance in the Council’s Policy on the business test, specifically that ‘hobby breeders’ should not be considered as requiring a licence for the activity of dog breeding.  Sections 5.8 to 5.11 of the updated Policy discuss the business test and set out that in considering whether an activity is considered a ‘business’ the Guidance recommends that Councils should consider the HMRC 9 badges of trade.  In response to the concerns raised by the Kennel Club, officers would advise that the Council must consider the legislation, guidance and its own policy when considering whether a licence is required.  Each case would be looked into on its merits, with the intention of ensuring that those who need a licence hold one for the purposes of upholding animal welfare standards. 

The Committee noted a query regarding clarification of the legislation.  For example, someone who was selling cats and dogs had to be licenced.  However, what was the difference between somebody who is carrying on a business of breeding and then selling cats and dogs and a private individual whose dog or cat has a litter and then sells them or exchanges them for money.  At what point did it become a business that needed to be licensed?  

The Senior Specialist, Licensing and Community Safety, Mike Smith confirmed that if you were operating a business of breeding dogs or had three or more litters per year then you were required to be licenced.  There was no specific legislation covering the breeding of cats.  However, if you were selling animals as pets, which could include kittens then you may need a licence such as a pet shop.  

The Committee noted a query raised regarding the concerns raised by the Kennel Club in that they were questioning why they must consider the legislation, guidance and policies which seemed fairly obvious.  The Senior Specialist, Licensing and Community Safety, Mike Smith confirmed that the Kennel Club believed that hobby breeders should not fall within the category of requiring a licence for dog breeding.  However, licensing would assess hobby breeders on a case by case basis.

The Committee also queried why the Licensing Authority would not adopt DEFRA standards in relation to dangerous wild animals and zoos.  The Senior Specialist, Licensing and Community Safety, Mike Smith confirmed that Guildford did not have any dangerous wild animals licenced in Guildford nor zoo licences.  If an application for zoo licence was received then there was a requirement to appoint a veterinary inspector and standard conditions would be imposed. 

The Committee noted a query regarding the checking of licences and whether any data was available about the number of licences that were in breach of their conditions or had been terminated.  The Senior Specialist, Licensing and Community Safety, Mike Smith confirmed that a premises was inspected as part of the application process to ensure that they meet the criteria and how well they met the criteria determined the star rating.  If a 5 star rating was given then the premises would receive a 3 year licence.  That premises would also need to have an interim inspection before they needed to apply again.  In respect of whether businesses were compliant, generally speaking, most of them were pretty good and was not aware of any revoked licences.  If complaints were received about a premises, then the Council had the powers to revoke a licence if failings were identified.

The Committee asked if the new legislation had caused an increase in the number of licenced establishments and a corresponding demand upon officer time?  The Senior Specialist, Licensing and Community Safety, Mike Smith confirmed that prior to 2018 licenced inspections were undertaken by a dog warden council officer.  However, since the new legislation was introduced the Council had contracted out the stray dog service and the dog warden council officer was involved in other aspects of the licensing authorities work.

The Committee noted that the government did not issue draft model animal welfare policies but that rather it was down to each licensing authority to pull together.  

The Committee approved the updated Animal Welfare Licensing Policy following the 12-week public consultation.