Licence fee anger over civil weddings

Tony Ardron, proprietor of the Angel Inn at Topcliffe in North Yorkshire, greeted the chance to hold civil weddings in his hotel with enthusiasm. Like many people in the industry he welcomed the new opportunity to expand his business and boost profits.

But he was unclear how big the market would be and was therefore prudently cautious about the prospects. After all, he had received just one enquiry from a member of the public considering holding a wedding in his hotel.

His cautious enthusiasm, however, turned to anger and dismay when he approached the council and they told him verbally that it would cost him £1,500 for a three-year licence. His anger had hardly diminished when the final figure was confirmed as £750 in subsequent correspondence. He still felt this was excessive for small hotels. And Mr Ardron's anger intensified when he was told by Caterer that had his hotel been in Cheshire or Dyfed, his bill would have been one-third of the fee in North Yorkshire.

Each local authority sets its own fees, which cover the costs of inspecting the property, administration, advertising the application in the local press and issuing a licence. Investigations by Caterer revealed a huge disparity in fees between different authorities. The top fee discovered so far is in Gwent, where hoteliers have been told to expect to pay about £1,500, although this provisional figure has yet to be confirmed by the full council when it meets at the end of the month.

It is outrageous that councils doing exactly the same job should be setting such disparate levels of fees. How can this difference be justified when they are not allowed to make any profit out of the process?

The Government ought to look into the levels of fees being set as a matter of urgency and ask for breakdowns of how the charges have been calculated in each local authority area. Some variation is inevitable, but a range from £250 to £1,500 to satisfy one single piece of legislation is unacceptable.

If you live in an area charging too much, why not take a copy of this issue of the magazine to your local councillor and lobby him or her to act on your behalf? With local authority elections coming up on 4 May in England and Wales, councillors will be especially willing to listen to disgruntled voters. Don't miss out on this chance to help your customers, your colleagues and yourselves.