Wolverhampton City Council's Licensing Committee this week (Wednesday 21 January, 2015) approved licence fees for 2015 to 2016 for a wide range of services, from taxis and street traders to bars and restaurants, kennels and catteries, street cafés and charity lotteries.
Councillor John Reynolds, Wolverhampton City Council's Cabinet Member for City Services, said: "We have done a lot of hard work over the last few years to streamline our licensing function by reducing back office costs. The licensing service must be self funding, but as a result of the council being careful and increasing efficiency, we have been able to freeze the cost of licences for another year.
"Indeed in some cases we have even been able to reduce the cost of licenses over the last few years - for instance, in 2012 a licence for a new hackney cab cost £351, while from this April it will be £285, while the cost of a street café licence - to put tables and chairs outside a café or restaurant - has been slashed from £265 in 2012 to just £25 this year.
"We're also attempting to help new businesses to establish themselves by permitting owners to give out promotional flyers for free over a 2 day period, subject to them having registered to pay business rates. Previously a licence to do this would have cost £300, beyond the means of many new businesses.
"This is all very welcome news to the licensed trade in Wolverhampton and shows our commitment to help businesses old and new thrive in our city."
Anyone who is interested in starting a licensed business in Wolverhampton can get general advice about the licensing process or book an appointment with a licensing officer by calling City Direct on 01902 551155.
- released: Friday 23 January, 2015