Increase in pavement licence costs? Why authorities should keep walking - Ismail Mulla
Cafes, restaurants and pubs have been having a tough time of things in recent years. The cost of living crisis has seen more and more people staying at home and rising energy costs have seen many establishments struggle to keep the lights on.
And this all came off the back of an unprecedented crisis that saw the hospitality sector being nearly wiped out overnight following the Covid outbreak.
The Tory government got a lot of things wrong when it came to managing the spread of the virus. The Eat Out to Help Out scheme became emblematic of its chaotic approach to keeping businesses alive while trying to stop the spread of a killer disease. It is as polarising today as it was during the ‘lockdown for thee but not for me’ days during the height of the pandemic.
One thing that the Tories did get right was the pavement licensing schemes, to enable social distancing and meeting up outdoors. Cafes and pubs could put out tables and chairs for patrons to sit at outside their premises.
While we may have distanced ourselves from social distancing, the reality is that the after effects of Covid have still left a lot of hospitality businesses reeling. For them, any crumb of comfort in a sea of never ending doom is to be welcomed.
However, the current Labour Government has decided to allow councils to charge nearly five times as much as previously for pavement licences.
Businesses previously paid between nothing and £100 for outdoor seating in front of their premises. The new cap set is £500 for an initial application and £350 for a renewal.
And cash-strapped local authorities have predictably gone for the cash grab. North Yorkshire Council says a new two-year pavement licence will cost £400 and the renewal fee will be £305.
Kevin Keaveny, Camra director of Yorkshire, said: “Local economies benefit greatly from pubs, as they create jobs and increase footfall on the high street. The tripling of the pavement licence could lead to yet more high street pubs in North Yorkshire closing their doors for good.
“Government and councils should be helping pubs survive and thrive, not penalising them for creating more space to welcome extra trade.”
And this is a very important point. When town and city centres are increasingly looking like a scene out of 28 Days Later, councils and the Government should be pulling out all the stops to help businesses, especially those that enliven the place by bringing in diners and drinkers to the high street.
A council report stated that licence fees should be calculated on a “cost-recovery basis in order for the associated costs of the service to be met by individuals and businesses benefiting from the licensed activity”.
It added: “Any failure to recover costs in this regard would result in a subsidisation of private enterprise at the expense of other services council provides to its taxpayers.”
I’m not one for shouting down everything a council does as red tape but surely the administration of pavement licences can be done for much less.
Of course, no one wants to see businesses splattering tables and chairs all over narrow footpaths. Impeding prams and wheelchairs is not justified, even to save businesses. And establishments should stamp out any unruly behaviour. But we do need a strong dose of common sense in this country.
Let hospitality businesses get on with it, if there are any issues, tell them to mend their ways.
Especially in the summer months, when the weather is good, why not let pubs and cafes get on with doing what they do best?
These businesses have been through a lot. It’s not fair to just see this cost in isolation. It isn’t just a matter of a couple of extra hundred quid. Rather it is the cumulative pressure that keeps building.
I used to speak to a lot of hospitality business owners. For many of them running a cafe or a pub wasn’t just something they stumbled across but a lifelong passion. And they toiled hard in the face of consistent hurdles, even before Covid.
The one thing that we can all do is support independent establishments like these whenever we can. On a recent visit to the local chippy I found the owner of the place directing traffic in the car park. You wouldn’t find the largest shareholders of McDonald’s doing that now would you?
The point being that those who cannot afford further cost rises and who probabaly could do with being allowed to put out a few tables and chairs on the pavement are not faceless businesses. They are run by people who live amongst us.