Sex Shop Licence Application

[Jjhale]

Hi could anyone help me please.I own a adult shop and now have a licence from the local council.But I've got a case going with the council, as back in 2010 I applied for a licence for my shop.It cost back then £7500,but the licence was refused.The council still to this day have refused to refund me me any money back.Surely I should be getting the money back if they refused the licence.Does anyone know how I stand on this please . The licence fee I pay now is only £1000.They have kept this money for 7 years

[bednobs]

what kind of "case" do you have going with them - a legal case? If so speak to your legal counsel

[dannyk13]

Consult a solicitor.

[Buenchico]

As with, say, a planning application to build a house, the fee covers only consideration of the actual application by the local authority, not the actual planning permission (or sex shop licence) itself. i.e. it's non-refundable in the case of a refusal. (To apply for planning permission to build a house can cost a lot of money; you still have to pay if planning permission is refused though. It's the same with licence applications made under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 982 [as amended]).

Schedule 3 of the 1982 Act requires local authorities to charge a 'reasonable fee' for considering licensing applications but does not elaborate upon what such a fee should be or as to how it should be determined. So, as long as they comply with the 'reasonableness' provision, each local authority is free to set their own fee.

Cheshire East Council, for example, sees £2,280 as a 'reasonable fee' for a first application for a sex shop licence.

Therefore you have NO chance of getting your money back simply because your application was refused. (As I've stated above, the fee is ALWAYS non-refundable).

The only chance you might have of getting at least SOME of it back would be to seek a ruling from the Local Government Ombudsman, declaring that the fee you were required to pay exceeded the definition of 'reasonable' within the legislation.

http://www.lgo.org.uk/

[THECORBYLOON]

One coucil website says, "The current application fee for a sex establishment licence is £1000.

Should an application fail, the council will not refund the entire fee; this is because the cost of the application covers the costs of the council for:

Administration of the application
Site visit
Legal charges for advice/solicitors attendance at the hearing
Fees associated with setting up the Licensing Committee hearing
Planning officers time
Licensing officers time"