Kirklees council puts dog boarding licence fees up by almost 500%
Kirklees District Council has increased licence fees for dog boarders by almost 500%, causing concern among dog care professionals.
The council has just announced it’s putting up its licence fee from £342 for three years to £1,650 from 1 October, plus a “consideration fee” taking the total to £1,871. The fee for new applications has gone up to £221 (up from £140).
In a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the council partially attributes the increase to “a large increase in the number of complaints received concerning licensed establishments and businesses operating without a licence”.
Operational costs, such as heating and IT support, are also said to be to blame for the price hike.
Describing the move as “mind-boggling”, licensed home boarder and business consultant Randle Stonier, told the UK Dog Care Professionals + Pet Owners on the Go Facebook group: “Pet owners are not exactly going to be leaping up and down with joy.
“And impoverished licence holders are going to be rolling their eyes like a Vegas slot machine.” He advised affected dog care professionals to contact their council and lodge complaints.
Councillor Naheed Mather, Cabinet Member for Culture and Greener Kirklees, told theYorkshire Post: “The council has taken a number of things into consideration when reviewing the fees for licences and has followed various guidance when setting these fees including Local Government Animal Welfare Group guidance and Local Government Association guidance on setting licence fees locally.
“In addition to increased operational costs for the service, complaints around concerns for establishments and businesses operating without licences have increased significantly with investigations having a large impact on the finances and resources for this team.”
Meanwhile, a petition launched to fight the increases has attracted more than 1,000 signatures.
Is your business impacted by this decision or is your council considering a similar move? Let us know by emailing editorial@thecaninetimes.co.uk
2 Comments
Vicky Williams
Technically, it is not the fee that’s a problem (if they can justify the costs… you send a freedom of information request for that)… but you should not be asked to pay more for a two year or three year licence than a one year one, they are supposed to all be the same as an incentive to meet the higher standards.
Charging more is 100% not in the spirits of the guidance. It costs no more to oversee a three year licence than a one year licence. You still only get a single interim visit, so they have no right to charge more for a longer licence. This is specifically written in the inspector guidance and the business guidance.
It’s time that fees are sorted this out on behalf of the community, it has been going on for years now and if you leave it to individual councils to set fees, the greedy ones will always treat it as a cash grab.
Nigel Lane
I don’t know why but our council doesn’t have sufficient staff to carry out its duties so it is no wonder lots of unregistered licence activities are taking place, without people to do the work in this area what do they expect? Very poor management is taking a place. This increase in charge now unfortunately will cause even more unlicensed activity. Most dog boarders are only very small businesses like me and big changes to their business expenses will have a big effect on them.