Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report

 

1.1       At the Committee meeting of the 16 April 2025 it was agreed that consultation on revised street trading fees should be undertaken on the basis of a fee increase that was a calculated mid way increase between an inflationary increase and an increase to reflect cost recovery of processing street trading applications. Minutes of 16 April 2025 Licensing Committee meeting are included as Appendix 1.

1.2       At your meeting of the 18 March 2026, the Committee considered representations on the proposed fees for street trading licences, which had been received in response to the consultation process as set out in the Street Trading Act N.I. 2001.  

 

1.3       At that meeting, Members agreed to defer a decision on the report and asked that offices bring forward revised proposals for an initial inflationary increase with staged further increases.  

 

1.4       This report once again details the consultation and representations received for further consideration and provides the requested amended fee proposals for Members to consider.

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is requested to consider the contents of the report and recommended to:

 

1.      Agree to the initial inflationary uplift in year 1 as set out in paragraph 3.19 for Street Trading Licences, effective from the 1 June 2026, and

2.      Agree that in April 2027 and April 2028 an inflationary uplift will be added as well as a further 10% increase in fees.

 

3.0       Main Report

 

            Key Issues

 

3.1       Members are reminded that the Street Trading Act N.I. 2001 gives the Council powers that it may charge such fees as may be sufficient to cover any reasonable administrative or other costs in connection administering the Street Trading Licence Scheme.

 

3.2       Below is a summary of the current fees and the fees the Committee agreed should be consulted on, following consideration of three fee options, at your meeting of 16 April 2025.

 

 

STATIONARY LICENCE	Current fee	fee consulted on
Application Fee - Non refundable	150	£290
Licensed for Monday to Friday	800	£1,225
Licensed for one day (Mon-Fri)	300	£395
Licensed for Monday to Saturday	1000	£1,390
Licensed for Monday to Sunday	1250	£1,640
Licensed for Saturday	520	£1,010
Licensed for Sunday	580	£1,080
MOBILE LICENCE
Application Fee - Non refundable	180	£310
Licensed for Monday to Friday	550	£955
Licensed for one day (Mon-Fri)	300	£395
Licensed for Monday to Saturday	800	£1,175
Licensed for Monday to Sunday	1100	£1,450
Licensed for Saturday	300	£795
Licensed for Sunday	380	£875
TEMPORARY LICENCE
Application Fee - Non refundable	180	£310
Licensed for Monday to Friday, per day	40	£91
Licensed for Saturday	50	£132
Licensed for Sunday or Public holiday	70	£175
Variation of Licence Particulars	100	£250

 

            Consultation/Public Notice

 

3.3       Consultation on the proposed fees was for the statutory public notice 28 day period, as required by the Act. The public notice period closed on 18 February 2026. 

 

3.4       Notice of the consultation was published in the two newspapers as required by the Act, specifically the Belfast Telegraph and the Irish News.

 

3.5       We also published the proposed fees on the Council’s website to coincide with the newspaper public notice period, explaining how representations could be made and that a statement outlining how the proposed fees were prepared was available on request.

 

3.6       trader or have recently held or applied for a street trading licence, notifying them of the proposed fees and the closing date of the consultation period and seeking their views.

 

            Responses

 

3.7       As a result of the consultation a total of five responses were received.  A copy of the written responses received is attached as Appendix 2.

 

3.8       Four responses were received from mobile street trading licence holders (ice cream vans).  This was four responses from a total 12 mobile street trading licences. 

 

3.9       The other response received was from a stationary street trading licence holder, who holds licences in two locations.  Therefore, this could be considered two out of 26 current stationary street trading licences.

 

3.10      Summary of points raised in responses

 

·        Understand need for increase – but proposals not fair or appropriate

·        Would adversely affect the service provided to residents, which is of value to communities

·        Austerity and rising living costs already downtown as people make cutbacks on luxury/treat items like ice cream

·        Increased Operating Costs – Fuel, staffing, product.

·        Weather Dependency & Seasonal Trading especially for ice cream trade–restricted revenue opportunities

·        Increased Competition – concession units operating within parks and tourist locations

·        Increased costs of product together with applicable rates cannot be passed onto consumer

·        Would be a barrier to people joining the industry

·        Wouldn’t be able to apply for temporary licence as if weather bad couldn’t cover cost

·        Fees in other Council areas are significantly less

 

3.11      As the comparison with fees in other council areas was made within responses, a list of these fees alongside the existing and proposed Belfast fees for comparison is given in Appendix 3.

 

            Revised proposals

 

3.12      At the meeting in March 2026, The Committee agreed to defer a decision on an uplift in fees for one month and requested that officers submit a report outlining a short-term inflationary rise of the current Street Trading fees, with proposed future staged increases, for the Committee to consider at its next meeting.

 

3.13      In order to calculate a short term inflationary rise as requested by the Committee, the Inflation figures were updated using the Bank of England inflation calculator, based on the latest available Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data from Office for National Statistics.

 

3.14      The inflation figure from 2017 (when fees last set) to Feb 2026 has therefore been calculated at 35.4%

 

3.15      To calculate future staged increases and to start moving towards cost-recovery, annual ten percent increases over a further two year period were considered a reasonable approach. Therefore, it is proposed that in years two and three the CPI percentage increase is added to the proposed 10 percent annual increase. 

 

3.16      The percentage CPI inflation figures for 12 months up to September 2025 was 3.8% and the latest available figure for percentage CPI inflation is for the 12 months up to February 2026 which is 3%. In the example fee calculations provided CPI for years 2 and 3 has been taken at 3%, whilst obviously this could be higher.

 

3.17      It would be the Building Control Service’s intention to bring a further review of the street trading fees to Committee before the end of the third year, comparing the then current fees to a calculated cost recovery level for the work involved in street trading licensing applications and on-site monitoring, with the overall aim of moving closer towards cost-recovery.

 

3.18      It should also be noted that the application fee is paid on first grant and every 3 years on renewal, while the licence fee is paid annually.  However, the annual licence fee is set at the time of the licence being issued.  Therefore, for many street traders there will be a delay before they must pay an increased fee of either type. 

 

 

3.19      Fee Uplift Proposal:

 

STATIONARY LICENCE	Current fee	fee consulted on	Year 1 = Inflation 2017-Feb 2026 = 35.4%	year 2 =  +10% + CPI (eg 3%)	year 3 = + 10% + CPI (eg 3%)
Application Fee - Non refundable	150	£290	203.10	229.50	259.34
Licensed for Monday to Friday	800	£1,225	1083.20	1224.02	1383.14
Licensed for one day (Mon-Fri)	300	£395	406.20	459.01	518.68
Licensed for Monday to Saturday	1000	£1,390	1354.00	1530.02	1728.92
Licensed for Monday to Sunday	1250	£1,640	1692.50	1912.53	2161.15
Licensed for Saturday	520	£1,010	704.08	795.61	899.04
Licensed for Sunday	580	£1,080	785.32	887.41	1002.78
MOBILE LICENCE
Application Fee - Non refundable	180	£310	243.72	275.40	311.21
Licensed for Monday to Friday	550	£955	744.70	841.51	950.91
Licensed for one day (Mon-Fri)	300	£395	406.20	459.01	518.68
Licensed for Monday to Saturday	800	£1,175	1083.20	1224.02	1383.14
Licensed for Monday to Sunday	1100	£1,450	1489.40	1683.02	1901.81
Licensed for Saturday	300	£795	406.20	459.01	518.68
Licensed for Sunday	380	£875	514.52	581.41	656.99
TEMPORARY LICENCE
Application Fee - Non refundable	180	£310	243.72	275.40	311.21
Licensed for Monday to Friday, per day	40	£91	54.16	61.20	69.16
Licensed for Saturday	50	£132	67.70	76.50	86.45
Licensed for Sunday or Public holiday	70	£175	94.78	107.10	121.02
Variation of Licence Particulars	100	£250	135.40	153.00	172.89

 

 

3.20      The legislation does not require a new consultation exercise to be carried out if the Committee decides to set fees different to those that were previously consulted on. However, if the Committee decides to set fees set out in paragraph 3.19 the legislation requires that notice of the decision is published in two newspapers along with the implementation date and that all current street trading licence holders also be notified.

 

4.0       Financial and Resource Implications

 

4.1       There are significant financial and resource implications associated with this report.

 

4.2       The proposed Street Trading Licence fees will ensure the cost of the operational and administration processes are proportionate to the licensing scheme. Details outlining the costings associated with administering street trading licences are attached as Appendix 4.

 

5.0       Equality and Good Relations Implications/

            Rural Needs Assessment

 

            There are no issues associated with this report.”

 

            During discussion, a Member stated that, given the ongoing cost of living crisis, he did not feel it was fair on the traders to implement such significant increased prices.

 

            A further Member highlighted that there were some costs which were non-negotiable under the Street Trading Act, such as the fees to advertise twice in the newspapers.

 

            After further discussion, it was

 

            Moved by Councillor Carson,

            Seconded by Councillor McCann and

 

               Resolved – that the Committee agrees:

 

1.      to the initial inflationary uplift in fees for year 1, as set out below, effective from the 1st June 2026, comprising an inflationary uplift from 2017- Feb 2026 of 35.4%;

 

 

 

STATIONARY LICENCE	Current fee	fee consulted on	Year 1 = Inflation 2017-Feb 2026 = 35.4%
Application Fee - Non refundable	150	£290	203.10
Licensed for Monday to Friday	800	£1,225	1083.20
Licensed for one day (Mon-Fri)	300	£395	406.20
Licensed for Monday to Saturday	1000	£1,390	1354.00
Licensed for Monday to Sunday	1250	£1,640	1692.50
Licensed for Saturday	520	£1,010	704.08
Licensed for Sunday	580	£1,080	785.32
MOBILE LICENCE
Application Fee - Non refundable	180	£310	243.72
Licensed for Monday to Friday	550	£955	744.70
Licensed for one day (Mon-Fri)	300	£395	406.20
Licensed for Monday to Saturday	800	£1,175	1083.20
Licensed for Monday to Sunday	1100	£1,450	1489.40
Licensed for Saturday	300	£795	406.20
Licensed for Sunday	380	£875	514.52
TEMPORARY LICENCE
Application Fee - Non refundable	180	£310	243.72
Licensed for Monday to Friday, per day	40	£91	54.16
Licensed for Saturday	50	£132	67.70
Licensed for Sunday or Public holiday	70	£175	94.78
Variation of Licence Particulars	100	£250	135.40

 

2.      with a report to be submitted to the February 2027 meeting for the consideration of any future increases in Street Trading Licensing fees.