Covid 19 - What you need to know - Pavement Licence Relaxations Extended

In a letter from Robert Jenrick (minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government) to Leaders of Local Authorities on Friday (5th March) the Minister announced plans to extend the life of certain relaxations for businesses for up to 12 months.

Expedited and stream lined processes for Pavement Licences were introduced in July 2020 and were due to expire on 30th September 2021, in his letter the Minister confirmed that the system will now be extended until 30th September 2022. The Minister highlighted that Pavement licences (the fee for which is capped at £100) are expected to be granted for a minimum of 12 months unless there are good reasons not to.

In addition, last year the government introduced greater flexibility for businesses to hold outdoor events such as summer fairs or motorsports on land without the need for a planning application, while events such as car-boot sales, or people or businesses such as pubs wishing to set up marquees were also made exempt.

The Minister reminded Local Authorities that in November 2020 the Government increased the number of days allowed for such temporary events such as descirbed above (not to be confused with TENs) from 28 to 56, and extended this provision generally until 31 December 2021.

A new temporary right to allow local authorities, either by themselves or by others on their behalf, to use land to hold a market without having to apply for planning permission has been extended to March 2022.

Finally, powers permitting premises not previously licensed for ‘off-sales’ to provide off sales as part of a takeaway service (especially during periods of lockdown) will be extended beyond the current situation to March 2022.