Agenda item

The Executive Director Place will submit a report on the introduction from 1^st October, 2018 of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and on the implications for the Model Licensing Conditions for animal licensing approved by the Board in December 2017.

The Executive Director Place submitted a report  on the introduction from 1^st October, 2018 of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 and on the implications for the Model Licensing Conditions for animal licensing approved by the Board in December, 2017.

The report gave details of the types and number of licences issued by the Service, the licensing period involved together with the cost of each individual licence and also provided information about the way in which the service operated and the number of staff involved.

It was noted that any licence issued prior to the introduction of the new legislation would be issued under the current arrangements until the following renewal date. 

The Model Licence Conditions were guidance which the Council had adopted as the standard to be achieved and insistence on complying with them, some elements of which may differ from the new draft Regulations, would place an unnecessary burden on local businesses and may cause some of them to close. In view of this, it was proposed to allow businesses to continue to operate in their current format until such time as the new Regulations came into force.  It would also support the Council priority of a Thriving and Vibrant Economy by supporting local businesses by applying a pragmatic approach to the interim period between now and the introduction of the Regulations.

In the ensuing discussion particular reference was made to the following:

·         It was noted that the Model Licensing Conditions specified sizing requirements however, the new regulations specified that sizing requirements only applied to kennels that were built after the date on which the new regulations came into force. This was an area of particular concern and had been highlighted as such at the meeting held in December, 2017.   Arising out of this discussion Members of the Board were informed  of the minimum size requirements and of the fact that the dimension of kennels would be appropriate to the size of the animal

·         It was not clear whether or not there would be a lead in time to allow businesses to meet the requirements of the new Regulations

·         The Service had written to all licensed businesses to inform them of the proposed changes and would ensure that they achieved compliance by the appropriate date

RESOLVED that in the light of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 due to come into force on the 1^st October, 2018, in circumstances where Animal Health Officers have confirmed that there are no animal welfare concerns, businesses be allowed to continue to operate as they currently do until such time as they are licensed under the new Regulations.