Animal Activity Licence Fee Calculation
Case reference FOI2026/00925
Received 30 April 2026
Published 21 May 2026
Request
I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, relating to fees charged by Guildford Borough Council for Animal Activity Licences issued under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Please provide the following information:
1. Your current fee schedule for all Animal Activity Licences (covering all licensable activities, e.g. dog boarding/kennels, home boarding for dogs, dog day care, dog breeding, cat boarding, selling animals as pets, hiring out horses, keeping or training animals for exhibition), including any variation by star rating or licence duration.
2. A copy of any document, policy, report or methodology that sets out how these fees have been calculated, including what cost components are included (for example: officer/inspector time, veterinary fees, administration costs, enforcement costs, management on-costs, IT/licensing software costs).
3. The hourly rate(s) used for officer and/or inspector time when calculating fees, and whether on-costs (such as pension contributions, National Insurance, and management overhead) are included in that rate.
4. Whether your authority uses full cost recovery as the basis for fee-setting, and if not, what basis is used and why.
5. The date on which your current fees were last reviewed or approved, and a copy of any committee report, delegated decision notice or other document by which those fees were formally agreed.
6. Whether your authority has ever recorded a surplus or deficit on Animal Activity Licensing income versus expenditure, and if so, how any surplus or deficit has been treated in subsequent fee-setting.
Response
Please find the answers to your queries below:
I am writing to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, relating to fees charged by Guildford Borough Council for Animal Activity Licences issued under the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Please provide the following information:
1. Your current fee schedule for all Animal Activity Licences (covering all licensable activities, e.g. dog boarding/kennels, home boarding for dogs, dog day care, dog breeding, cat boarding, selling animals as pets, hiring out horses, keeping or training animals for exhibition), including any variation by star rating or licence duration.
There is no fee schedule. The fees are based on time recording for animal welfare licensing activities during 2023/24. We have assumed the same level of work undertaken since then and fees have increased in line with inflation since then with the percentage increase for fees and charges agreed by Council each year.
2. A copy of any document, policy, report or methodology that sets out how these fees have been calculated, including what cost components are included (for example: officer/inspector time, veterinary fees, administration costs, enforcement costs, management on-costs, IT/licensing software costs).
There is no document, policy, or report. Please see the answer to question 1.
3. The hourly rate(s) used for officer and/or inspector time when calculating fees, and whether on-costs (such as pension contributions, National Insurance, and management overhead) are included in that rate.
Different hourly rates were used reflecting different officers pay. The hourly rate included on costs to ensure full cost recovery.
4. Whether your authority uses full cost recovery as the basis for fee-setting, and if not, what basis is used and why.
Full cost recovery.
5. The date on which your current fees were last reviewed or approved, and a copy of any committee report, delegated decision notice or other document by which those fees were formally agreed.
Please see the answer to question 1.
6. Whether your authority has ever recorded a surplus or deficit on Animal Activity Licensing income versus expenditure, and if so, how any surplus or deficit has been treated in subsequent fee-setting.
The fees are based on work undertaken in 2023/24 and are increased in line with inflation since then with the percentage increase for fees and charges agreed by Council each year.
If any of this information is held in a form that can be provided as a document (for example a fee-setting spreadsheet or cost model), I would be grateful to receive it in that format.
There is no document that can be shared.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.