Permanent pavement licences will speed recovery, say trade bodies.

UKHospitality believes making pavement licences permanent will help the Covid-ravaged hospitality sector make a faster post-pandemic recovery, pointing out that outdoor drinking and dining areas have become hugely popular over the past two years, in some cases ensuring the survival of those hospitality business unable to serve customers indoors due to coronavirus restrictions.

Responding to a recent Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) call for views on pavement licences, UKHospitality said the temporary scheme – introduced last April and due to end this September – should become permanent, and would be “low-cost, low-admin.”

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “Pavement licences have been a really positive success story, and in many cases have enabled businesses to remain open, when otherwise they would have had to close or restrict their opening hours, threatening thousands of jobs.

“As well as businesses, outdoor spaces have also brought benefits to those town and city centres previously without al fresco drinking and dining opportunities, enabling them to begin the process of levelling up, and start to enjoy the sort of outdoor experiences available elsewhere. Not only that, but by helping local economies recover – and recover faster – this will undoubtedly contribute to the long-term levelling up of the regions. The fact that the scheme has been embraced enthusiastically by a number of local authorities is hugely encouraging in itself.

“Pavement licences also revealed our sector’s ingenuity and creativity, with some truly striking outdoor spaces being created across the UK – from pods to yurts – and significant levels of investment in features such as lighting and heating.

“It’s crucial, therefore, that we press for the pavement licence scheme to made permanent, so that pubs, bars and restaurants struggling to recover from the pandemic can get back on their feet much quicker.

“This has the potential to be a hugely beneficial, low-cost, low admin scheme, and a welcome boost for an industry facing rising costs across the board, including VAT, business rates, rents, staffing and raw goods.”

UKHospitality’s consultation response also recognises that making the scheme permanent may require changes in terms of cost and how it is administered, but calls for it to remain easy to use and cheap enough for businesses to continue using it. It has agreed with a proposed £350 cap on application fees, and suggests that any new fee system should encourage and allow local authorities to offer subsidised – or even free – pavement licences, which some councils have already done with great success for businesses and local areas.

The British Sandwich Association has been supporting a campaign by Kensington & Chelsea councillor, Johnny Thalassites, to encourage al fresco dining in the UK during British Summer Time by extending the rules that were put in place during the pandemic.

Under the proposals, hospitality businesses would be able to apply for planning to have outdoor seating up until to late October, and the council would help facilitate this in some cases by widening pavements. It is hoped that other councils will follow the example of Kensington & Chelsea (details of this scheme are available from BSA director, Jim Winship, by emailing jim@sandwich. org.uk).