Sheffield Council leaves licensing fees unchanged to avoid increased burden on businesses

The licensing committee unanimously agreed to keep all fees where they are for things like taxis, pet shops, tattoo parlours, casinos, street trading and scrap metal at least until September when it will review them again.

In a meeting of the committee today Stephen Lonnia, chief licensing officer at the council, said: “At this moment in time we don’t propose to increase or change any fees due to the ongoing financial impact of the pandemic.

“We don’t think it’s the right time. We want to work with businesses until they get themselves back on their feet.

“Most licensing businesses have been closed, along with many other businesses, so we feel now is not the right time to increase fees and increase the burden on these premises.”

Councillor Roger Davison, member of the committee, added: “It doesn’t seem to me that we are dealing in very big figures here in terms of the margins of plus or minus.

“I do feel that it is important to back our businesses, they have gone through a tough time.

“I would like to look at the accounts long-term but let’s be realistic, if we are talking about a few thousand pounds it is absolutely nothing in terms of the budget and it might do a lot of good in terms of the businesses we are here to guide and support.”