Animal health and welfare licensing guidance

Executive Summary

The aim of this Guidance is to set out the principles and processes that will be applied for the determination of animal welfare licence applications.

The objectives of this Guidance are as follows:

• To ensure domestic animals where a commercial element is involved, are protected from harm and their welfare needs are met
• To ensure the processing of animal licence applications is undertaken in a fair and proportionate manner. 

Introduction

This guidance is intended to provide guidance for officers, businesses and members of the public on the principles and processes that will be applied for the determination of animal welfare licence applications, and the subsequent regulation of such licences. 

This Authority follows the principles laid down in the Regulators' Code published under the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 and those principles are incorporated into the Authority’s Statement of Enforcement Policy and are considered when investigating complaints, responding to service requests, carrying out inspections, and reviewing and granting licences. This Guidance seeks to provide awareness and understanding of the regulatory and licensing process through education and working in partnership with other organisations. 

Our Objectives

This guidance aims:

• To ensure domestic animals, where a commercial element is involved, are protected from harm and their welfare needs are met.
• To ensure animal licence holders are treated in a fair and proportionate manner 

Review

The Authority will keep this guidance under review against any changes to statutory guidance or legislation.

The Authority will ensure decisions on licences are made in accordance with this guidance, North Tyneside’s Statement of Enforcement Policy and any statutory guidance relevant to animal licensing activity.  

Animal Licensing

Licences are required for zoos, keepers of dangerous wild animals and for specific animal activities undertaken through a business activity. Conditions protect the welfare of animals and public by:

• Ensuring that any person who carries on, attempts to carry on, or knowingly allows a licensable activity to be carried on, holds a licence
• Ensuring the licence holder is not disqualified from holding a licence in accordance with legislative requirements
• Ensuring that the five animal welfare needs introduced by the Animal Welfare Act are upheld in any decision
• Ensuring the safeguarding of any children or vulnerable persons in contact with a licensable activity
• Ensuring that each application is considered on its own merits.

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 sets the five welfare needs of animals as 

• The need for a suitable environment
• The need for a suitable diet
• The need to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
• The need for suitable housing
• The need to protect from pain, suffering, injury and disease.

Zoo Licence

The Zoo Licensing Act 1981 requires an establishment to have a zoo licence where wild animals are kept for exhibition to which members of the public have access to, with or without charge for admission, on more than 7 days in any period of 12 consecutive months. The Zoo Licensing Act 1981 does not extend to circuses or to pet shops which are covered by separate legislation.

Dangerous Wild Animal Licence

The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (DWA) makes it a requirement for an individual or business to apply for a licence to keep an animal. A schedule of dangerous wild animals is maintained by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and is included in Schedule 1 of the DWA. This licence is required for any person wishing to keep a wild animal at home.

Animal Activity Licence 

The following animal activities under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 require the operator to have a licence for 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.

DEFRA have produced guidance for activities and procedural guidance notes for local authorities.

Decision Process for Animal Activity Licence Application 

The determination of licence applications, and appropriate enforcement action will be carried out by a competent officer with the appropriate level of training as set out in relevant legislation and statutory guidance. The determination of a licence application requires the officer to assess the suitability of the applicant to operate, or to continue to operate, an animal activity, to ensure the licence  application with fee is valid and  to make a determination based on, amongst other things, an inspection of the environment where the animal will be kept and a written report on the activity or proposed activity is produced by the officer. 

Suitability of Applicants for Animal Activity Applications

The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 specify that no person may apply for an animal activity licence if they are a disqualified person as defined by the Regulations. Such a person would include those convicted of offences set out in Schedule 8 of the Regulations. A list of the relevant offences is attached as Appendix 1 to this Guidance.  Consideration is also given to the conduct of the applicant or operator to ensure their suitability as a fit and proper person to hold such a licence.

There is a duty to ensure that an applicant has not been disqualified from holding a licence and is a fit and proper person to hold a licence, or to continue to hold a licence.

An applicant will be granted a licence if the Authority is satisfied that: 

• the applicant, or any person who has control or management of the establishment has not been disqualified from holding a licence
• the applicant, or any person who will have control or management of the establishment, is a ‘fit and proper’ person to hold a licence
• the applicant, or any person who will have control or management of the establishment, has not been convicted of any offences listed under the Animal Welfare Act 2006
• the applicant, or any person who will have control or management of the establishment has not had a licence refused, revoked or cancelled.

The term ’fit and proper' person is not defined in the Regulations or statutory guidance, however, the Authority will consider a 'fit and proper' person to be an individual who can demonstrate upon application that they have:

• the right to work in the UK
• no convictions that impact on their suitability to hold a licence with regard to animal welfare or public,
• the knowledge, experience, compliance history (where applicable) and ability to comply with the licence conditions and safeguard the welfare of animals in their care
• made suitable management and training arrangements to safeguard and protect any staff and/or members of the public who may be impacted by the licensable activities
• not misled or withheld appropriate information from the Authority. 

Should any convictions be held by the applicant, the Authority will determine on an individual basis the applicant’s suitability to hold a licence. This will include safeguarding issues for customers utilising the facilities.   

An application for a licence will be refused if the licence holder is unable to meet the minimum standards so as to comply with the conditions of licence.  

Validation of Animal Activity Application

The following information must be submitted to the Authority (as applicable) with the relevant animal activity application form and the appropriate application fee:

• Plan of the premises
• Insurance policy
• Standard Operating procedures
• Emergency Response Plan
• Infection Control Procedure

It is requested that details of any relevant qualifications specific to the animal activity as set out in the statutory guidance are provided and if the business has a UK Accreditation Service accreditation for that activity a copy of the accreditation is to be provided. 

Star Rating for Animal Licensing Activities

All applications relating to licensable activities under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving animals) (England) Regulations 2018, if approved, will be granted a licence of one to three years duration based on the star rating, except for exhibition licence which is set at three years and is not star rated. The star rating is based on the risk and welfare standards found at the premises as set out in table below.  The minimum and higher standards for licensable activity are set out in the DEFRA statutory guidance for specific licensable animal activity to demonstrate compliance with the conditions of licence as set out in the Licensing Activity Regulations 2018. 

The fees and charges for licences are available on the North Tyneside Council website. The details on how this assessment is made is set out in the DEFRA statutory animal activity licensing process guidance. 

Animal Activity Licence Decision, Appeal and Star Rating Process 

The Authority decision on granting a licence is based on the determination of animal welfare at the premises and the applicant’s conduct and suitability as a fit and proper person as referred in chapter 5.1. A licence will be refused if the applicant is not considered fit and proper or an operator is unable to meet the conditions and general standards of the licence.  For applications from existing premises, the application will be refused if breaches of conditions have been established that will impact the welfare of animals. Refusal will be on the grounds that the granting of a licence will have a negative impact on an animal’s welfare. The level of accommodation, staffing and the applicant’s competency or management may be considered inadequate for the well-being of the animals at the premises. The applicant may be considered not to be fit to hold a licence due to false information, poor management practices, or criminal behaviour which could endanger the public, vulnerable groups or animals or a conviction for an offence set out in schedule 8 of the Act.

Rights of Applicant for Refusal of Licence 

If an application is refused, the applicant will have the following right of appeal:

• Animal Activity Licences - First-Tier Tribunal within twenty-eight days of receiving the Authority’s written decision notice of the refusal.

Licence Holders’ Informal Appeal Process for Star Rating 

Whilst there is no formal appeal process against a star rating issued by the Authority, an internal appeals process has been established to ensure fairness to applicants and licence holders. The applicant/licence holder will be provided with a copy of the Animal Welfare and Licensing Inspector risk rating report and any other supporting documentation upon request.  This information will explain how the risk rating and star rating has been determined. The applicant/licence holder will be encouraged to initially discuss their concerns with the Animal Welfare Inspector.  The applicant/licence holder can appeal the star rating if they believe it does not accurately reflect the standards found at the time of the inspection. The appeal must be received in writing, including electronic submission, by the licensing Authority within 21 days of the star rating being advised to the applicant/licence holder.

An appeal will be assessed and determined by the Senior Manager, Public Protection at the Authority, who will ordinarily conduct a desk-based appraisal of the rating given. The Senior Manager will make the final decision.  Where necessary, the Senior Manager may decide to visit the premises as part of their considerations. The applicant will receive a decision on their star rating appeal within 28 days of the Licensing Authority receiving it.  If the applicant/licence holder disagrees with the outcome of the appeal the further recourse available is to challenge the decision by way of a Judicial Review.

Alternatively, an applicant/licence holder may wish to be re-inspected or regraded following completion of works to rectify any non-compliance found at the time of the inspection or to demonstrate works undertaken to achieve the higher standards. These re-inspection/re-grading visits can be requested by payment of the appropriate fee.  A re-inspection or re-grading visit will be carried out by the Animal Welfare Inspector in the normal manner and the premises will be assessed against the scoring matrix.  Following a re-inspection or re-grading visit, if the applicant/licence holder disagrees with the star rating given, the internal appeal process detailed above will apply.

Licensing Fees

The Licensing Authority is permitted to recover costs for regulatory effort including external veterinary visits when setting fees for animal licensing.

Fees for animal activity licensing are set to recover the costs of administration and enforcement of animal licensing activity. There are two fees, one for the determination of the application and one for the maintenance of the licence. 

Variation of Fees and Charges

The fees will be reviewed annually as part of the Authority’s budgetary process and will be published on the North Tyneside website at www.northtyneside.gov.uk.

Any minor variations to the guidance for determining of penalty will be updated and available to view on the North Tyneside website.

Payments

Details of payments required will usually be issued via an invoice however payments by phone using credit or debit card can be made.

Refunds

There is no refund of Licensing fees as there is staged process of fees to reimburse for officer time. Fees are charged as an application fee and as a licence fee.

Complaints Procedure

The Authority will process and enforce the licensing requirements and all other relevant animal licensing legislation to protect animals and the public. 

The investigation of complaints will be on a risk-based approach and will follow the principles of enforcement. All parties on completion of the complaint will be informed of the outcome. If any party is not satisfied with the outcome, they can register a complaint using the Authority’s corporate complaints procedure via email cmlo@northtyneside.gov.uk, or by writing to:

Customer and Member Liaison Office
North Tyneside Council
Quadrant
The Silverlink North 
Cobalt Business Park
North Tyneside
NE27 0BY
 

Appendix 1 Disqualification from Holding an Animal Licence

Regulation 11 and Schedule 8 of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 specifies those offences that would disqualify a person from holding a licence or applying for an animal licence.

The offences disqualifying a person from applying for a licence are as follows:

• A person who has at any time held a licence which was revoked under regulation 15 of these Regulations
• A person who has at any time held a licence which was revoked under regulation 17 of the Animal Welfare (Breeding of Dogs) (Wales) Regulations 2014
• A person who has at any time held a licence which was revoked under regulation 13 of the Welfare of Wild Animals in Travelling Circuses (England) Regulations 2012
• A person who is disqualified under section 33 of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
• A person who has at any time held a licence which was revoked under regulation 12 of the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010  
• A person who is disqualified under section 34 of the Act.
• A person who is disqualified under section 40(1) and (2) of the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006
• A person who is disqualified under section 4(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
• A person who is disqualified under Article 33A of the Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983
• A person who is disqualified under section 6(2) of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 from keeping a dangerous wild animal
• A person who is disqualified under section 3(3) of the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973 from keeping a breeding establishment for dogs
• A person who is disqualified under section 4(3) of the Riding Establishments Act 1964 from keeping a riding establishment
• A person who is disqualified under section 3(3) of the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963 from keeping a boarding establishment for animals
• A person who is disqualified under section 5(3) of the Pet Animals Act 1951 from keeping a pet shop
• A person who is disqualified under section 1(1) of the Protection of Animals (Amendment) Act 1954 from having custody of an animal
• A person who is disqualified under section 4(2) of the Performing Animals (Regulation) Act 1925
• A person who is disqualified under section 3 of the Protection of Animals Act 1911 from the ownership of an animal.