Animal Licensing Policy

The LAIA Regulations, which fall under the AWA 2006 introduced a single animal activity licence that can include one or more of the following activities:

• Selling Animals as Pets
• Providing or arranging for the provision of boarding in catteries for cats
• Providing or arranging for the provision of boarding in kennels for dogs
• Providing or arranging for the provision of home boarding for dogs
• Providing or arranging for the provision of day care for dogs
• Hiring out horses
• Breeding dogs
• Keeping or training animals for exhibition

The Council keeps a public register of licences issued under these Regulations and this can be found here: https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/business/business-licences-and-permits/animal-licences/public-register-of-licensed-animal-businesses/

The Regulations include a schedule of general conditions which must be applied to all licences issued. The Regulations also include a number of schedules setting out specific conditions relating to each of the activities listed above. These specific conditions will also be applied to any licence granted for that activity.

Where multiple activities are held under one licence, for example for providing boarding in both a cattery and kennels, then the general conditions, along with the specific cattery and kennel conditions will all be listed on that licence.

The Council has no authority to remove or add conditions from a licence granted under these Regulations.

The general and specific conditions relating to these licences are listed in schedules within the LAIA Regulations and can be seen here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2018/486/contents

DEFRA have issued statutory procedural guidance for local authorities to follow and specific statutory guidance for each activity, setting out how each licence condition must be demonstrated. This is available on the Gov.uk website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities

The Council is required to have regard to this statutory guidance when carrying out their functions in relation to licences issued under the LAIA Regulations.

The Council has an expectation that applicants and existing LAIA licence holders will familiarise themselves with the latest guidance relating to the activities they are carrying out.

The statutory guidance and regulations are subject to periodic review. The Council expects licence holders to keep up to date with relevant changes to the guidance and regulations that affect their business area. Operators can subscribe to be notified of any changes that are made to the guidance via the link above.

LAIA licences are issued to an operator defined in the Regulations as “an individual”. In the case of a business operated by more than one individual, for example a limited company or partnership, a single individual will need to take responsibility for applying for the licence

A licence is required if the operator is considered to be carrying out a commercial activity. In accordance with the guidance the Council will consider a variety of criteria when determining this, including whether the operator:

• Makes any sale or carries out the activity to make a profit
• Earns any commission or fee from the activity
• Has a trading income exceeding the HMRC Trading income allowance https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tax-free-allowances-on-property-and-trading-income#trade
• Carries out an activity in a way that indicates they are operating as a business. The Council will take account of the HMRC’s 9 badges of trade in making this determination which include among other things evidence of frequent sales, or sales at high prices, advertising as a business, HMRC’s 9 badges of trade.

In relation to LAIA licences, the applicant must complete the required sections of the application form for each activity they wish to be licensed for.

On receipt of a valid application, arrangements will be made for an inspection to be carried out by one (or more) of the Council’s appointed inspectors.

Applicants will be required to provide evidence of a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (or “basic disclosure”), the certificate must be no more than two months old at the time of application.

Where possible, officers will make a decision within 10 weeks of receiving a valid application. However, this timescale can be affected should further information be required from an applicant or if there are difficulties in arranging an inspection, for example when this requires a vet or the applicant is not available for the scheduled appointment.

All new and renewal applications will require an inspection. Operators are also subject to an unannounced mid licence inspection. Additional inspections may also be carried out as appropriate, for example as part of a complaint investigation or an application to vary a licence.

Inspections are carried out by suitably qualified inspectors who are part of the licensing team. However, in accordance with the Regulations, new applications for dog breeding will require an appointed vet to carry out the inspection alongside the Council’s appointed inspector.

For the activity of hiring out horses, a listed vet will be appointed to carry out an inspection alongside the council appointed inspector for all new and renewal applications. The Council must also arrange for a listed vet to carry out an annual inspection of any premises offering the activity of hiring out horses if the licence is granted for more than one year.

The Council may choose to appoint a vet to carry out inspections on their own, without the need to be accompanied by a Council inspector, where this is the case this will be reflected in the Council’s scheme of delegations.

Applicants are advised that application/ renewal inspections can often take several hours, especially where significant evidence of noncompliance is found, or where the inspection covers more than one activity.

Inspections will often include checking temperatures and measurements of other environmental factors relating to the animal’s welfare, for example water quality where fish are kept or dimensions of a cattery unit. Photographs will be taken as a record of what has been seen at the time of inspection. Inspectors may also check microchips in order to identify animals. There may also be cases where Council inspectors feel it is necessary to have additional assistance from a vet during an inspection. Examples of this would be where exotic species are involved in the activity and specialist knowledge is needed, where there has been evidence of serious animal welfare concerns, or samples are required. In such cases the applicant will, where possible, be notified of the need to seek assistance from a vet beforehand as the applicant will be expected to pay any additional costs associated with the inspection.

It is an offence for the applicant to obstruct an inspector when carrying out their duties as set out in the LAIA Regulations. This includes reasonable requests to identify, examine or take a sample from an animal.

5.8 Suitability to hold a licence

In order to establish the suitability of applicants to be granted a licence the following factors will be taken into consideration:

• The applicant’s understanding of the relevant legislation.
• The applicant’s demonstrable experience caring for and working with the species involved in the activity they wish to be licensed for.
• The applicant’s ability to comply with the licence conditions and ability to provide adequate welfare standards for the animals in their care. This will be assessed during the inspection process, taking into account the premises and documentation required under LAIA Regulations.
• Compliance history, either with this Council or another Local Authority (where known), for any type of licence.
• Evidence of suitable management and staffing levels, with training arrangements in place for staff to ensure appropriate standards of care for animals.
• Any history of relevant criminal or unacceptable behaviour.
• Information provided by external stakeholders such as RSPCA, vet practices, The Kennel Club. Examples of this might be Kennel Club breeding records, veterinary records for the animals used for the activity or a history of animal welfare concerns.

This does not limit the scope of the fit and proper assessment and the Council may take into account other matters, should they be considered as relevant to the licensing process.

Schedule 8, of the Regulations sets out who cannot be granted a licence. In general terms these are individuals who have previously had a licence revoked or who are listed as a disqualified person under various animal related legislation including the AWA 2006.

With the exception of license issued for the keeping and training of animals for exhibition, all LAIA licences are issued with a star rating. The rating ranges from 1 star to 5 star. This star rating determines the length of time a licence is granted for, which can either be 1 year, 2 years or 3 years.

The star rating table, as set out in the DEFRA procedural guidance is shown here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities/animal-activity-licensing-process-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities#granting-or-renewing-a-licence-star-ratings-and-licence-conditions

When carrying out an inspection as part of new or renewal application, inspectors will use a risk based approach to determine a star rating. This involves taking into consideration the following:

• compliance history of an operator as an indication of whether they are high or low risk
• considering the animal welfare standards demonstrated by the operator and whether there is evidence of minor failings.
• if the operator meets the minimum standards or whether there is also evidence of the higher standards, as set out in the statutory guidance, being met.

The procedural guidance sets out a risk rating table to be used for renewal applications where compliance history is available, this is shown here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/animal-activities-licensing-guidance-for-local-authorities/animal-activity-licensing-process-statutory-guidance-for-local-authorities#risk-scoring

It should be noted that star ratings can also be reviewed by an inspector following other types of inspection such as a mid-licence check, for example where it is clear that the higher standards are no longer being met by an operator.

Where multiple activities are listed on a licence there will only be one star rating. In these circumstances each activity is risk rated separately and where it is found that the business is operating with different standards for different activities the star rating will be rounded down.

Should an operator wish to have their star rating reviewed they can request a reinspection. This applies where businesses with ratings of 1 to 4 have accepted their rating, but have subsequently made the improvements needed to address non-compliances identified during the previous inspection.

Operators are reminded that an inspector will not only check that the required improvements have been made but will also assess the ongoing standards. This means that the star rating could go up, down or remain the same as a result of a reinspection.

The cost of any reinspection in these circumstances is borne by the applicant.

The guidance sets out how operators should apply for a reinspection to review their star rating. They should provide in writing (either by email or post):

• An outline of the case for a reinspection
• An indication of what the business has done to improve the level of compliance or welfare since the inspection, including any actions recommended by their inspector
• supporting evidence, if appropriate, such as photographs or records

Operators can appeal the star rating they have been awarded should they feel that the star rating does not reflect the level of animal welfare standards and risk level at the time of inspection.

Operators are encouraged to discuss this informally with the inspecting officer as a starting point but must still ensure that any appeal is lodged in writing within 21 days of the date their licence was issued. This should be sent to the licensing service and can be by letter or email to [email protected]. In most circumstances the operator will be notified of their star rating when provided with the inspector’s report and prior to the issuing of the licence.

This enables the operator to seek clarification from the inspector before the licence is issued. Where an appeal is received in writing, the following process will be followed:

• Receipt of the appeal will be acknowledged
• The inspecting officer will contact the operator to establish if any further explanation of their star rating/ risk scoring is wanted
• If this resolves the matter and the operator decides to withdraw their appeal they will be asked to do so in writing.
• If the operator wishes to proceed with their appeal, it will be dealt with by a senior officer authorised to determine LAIA star rating appeals under the Council’s scheme of delegations. The senior officer determining the appeal will have had no involvement in the production of the rating or in the inspection on which the rating is based.
• The senior officer determining the appeal will decide if a further visit to the premises is required. This decision will be based on the information provided by the operator aspart of their appeal, all records relating to the inspection, including report, photographs and correspondence and any past records of the business.
• Where it is considered necessary to carry out another visit in order to determine the appeal, the cost of this will be borne by the operator unless the appeal results in the star rating being increased.
• A decision will be provided to the operator in writing within 21 days of the date the appeal was received.
• If the applicant remains unhappy with the outcome of the appeal they can challenge the decision by way of judicial review or the Council’s complaints procedure https://www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/your-council/contact-and-complaints/complain-about-our-services/

Under the LAIA Regulations, the Council may vary a licence with or without the consent of the licence holder.

Examples of varying a licence with the consent of a licence holder would be where new horses are added to a licence for the activity of hiring out horses, a new species of animals added to a licence for selling animals as pets or a structural change to a premises enabling a greater number of animals to be covered by a licence. Examples of varying a licence without the consent of the licence holder would be the removal of certain species of animals, or reduction in the number of animals involved in the activity covered by the licence.

In most cases a star rating change, either following an inspection or at the request of the licence holder, will require a variation of licence to reflect changes to the expiry date.

The Council may also suspend or revoke a licence without the consent of the licence holder if:

• the licence conditions are not being complied with
• regulations are breached
• information supplied by the licence holder is false or misleading
• it is necessary to protect the welfare of an animal

It is an offence for the licence holder to breach any licence condition.

The process for varying, suspending or revoking a licence is set out in the statutory procedural guidance. In summary, if the Council intends to vary the licence without consent or suspend a licence, the licence holder will be served with a written notification of this decision and given 7 working days to respond before the decision takes effect". If representations are made in that time frame then the Council must respond within 7 working days with their response and final decision.

The exception to this process would be where a decision was made in order to protect the welfare of an animal. In these instances, the decision can have immediate effect and a licence holder would be advised of this.

Licence holders have 28 days to appeal a decision to vary the licence without consent or revoke a licence from the date the decision took effect. Appeals are made to the first tier tribunal.

When considering whether to suspend, vary or revoke a licence the Council will have regard to the statutory guidance and the Council’s own enforcement policy as set out in this document.