High street businesses will continue to benefit from temporary pavement licences for a further 12 months, it has been announced.

The licences will allow pubs, restaurants, and cafes to serve people outside after social distancing rules are relaxed on 12 April, subject to Parliament approval.
Under the scheme, the consultation period for applications for pavement licences will be reduced from 28 calendar days to five working days, while automatic deemed consent will be awarded after 10 working days if the council does not issue a decision.
The application fee for a pavement licence will also be capped at £100, regardless of the local authority rate.
Extending the scheme, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government said the Government will do “everything possible” to support high streets and the hospitality and leisure sector through the recovery phase of the pandemic.
This also includes extending the relaxation of planning rules to allow pubs and restaurants to operate as takeaways, granting greater flexibility for land to be used for temporary events, such as markets and motorsports, and introducing “planning freedoms” to allow outdoor markets, marquees, pop-up car-boot sales or summer fairs without the need of a planning application.
Commenting on the announcement, Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “We’re all looking forward to seeing pubs, cafes and restaurants open again as we start to gear up for what should be a great British summer.
“Therefore I’m delighted to announce an extension on temporary provisions for pavement licences for a further 12 months. This will give further certainty to businesses as they recover from the effects of the pandemic.
“As lockdown restrictions ease in the coming months I’m also keen to highlight the range of measures we’ve put in place to help support the safe reopening of hospitality businesses and our high streets.”
For more information on the pavement licence scheme, please click here.
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