WIREDGOV

Three million potholes could have been filled or 28 million meals on wheels provided with the millions of pounds councils have been forced to spend topping up the drinks industry over the past decade.

The Local Government Association said nationally-set fees introduced in 2005 mean councils are unable to recover the full cost of licensing applications from pubs, nightclubs and off-licences.

Estimates suggest that local authorities are diverting at least £1.5 million a month from under pressure services to pay for processing applications, holding consultations and hearings and investigating and taking action on licensing breaches.

This ever-rising bill now stands at around £169.5 million. With funding cuts stretching council services to breaking point, LGA analysis reveals this vital money would also have paid for: • A quarter of annual street cleaning costs for English councils; • Salaries for more than 5,000 social workers and 9,000 care workers; • Half of the annual cost of providing homelessness services.

Last February, the Home Office launched a consultation on introducing locally-set fees, but has yet to even respond to the consultation.

Licensing fees remain the same as those originally set in 2005. That is despite independent experts saying in 2006 that fees should rise by 7 per cent, and be reviewed in 2010.

The LGA is calling for the Government to finally meet its promise to free councils from having to divert limited resources away from vital services and allow them to set their own licensing fees.

Cllr Tony Page, LGA Licensing Spokesman, said:

"Pressure on vital services, such as looking after the elderly, protecting children, repairing the roads and collecting bins, continues to grow. Yet councils will receive 8.8 per cent less funding from government to run local services from April.

"At a time when every penny is needed to protect essential services, it is unacceptable for councils to keep being forced to spend millions each year to subsidise the drinks industry. This is money which would be better spent patching up our crumbling roads and easing the pressure on squeezed social care budgets.

"Councils are desperate to settle this ever-growing tab once and for all. We need the Government to finally honour its commitment to introduce locally-set fees to allow local authorities to recover the actual cost of applications and end such a needless waste of taxpayers' money."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Government commissioned an independent review of licensing fees, chaired by Lord Elton, which reported in 2006. On the basis of evidence provided to the review, it was estimated that between 2004/05 and 2009/10 there was a licensing fee deficit of around £100 million, equating to just under £17 million a year -  Financial statistics provided by councils to DCLG since then show an even greater shortfall between expenditure on licensing and income from sales, fees and charges.
2. The current application fee structure was set in 2005 and fees have not increased since. Fees generally range from £21 to £37 for a personal licence and £100 to £635 for a premises licence - 
3. A Home Office consultation on introducing locally-set licensing fees under the Licensing Act 2003 closed in April 2014. Government has yet to respond to the consultation.