Licensing Service Standards

Our Licensing Service Standards explain what you can expect from us when applying for licences, during inspections and enforcement, and how to contact us or provide feedback.

Contents:

What you can expect from the Licensing Service

This page explains what can be expected from the Licensing Section at Denbighshire.

Whether you run a business, are an employee or a member of the public, we are committed to providing you with an efficient, courteous and helpful service and this page tells you how we aim to do that and what standards we will meet.

We have a dedicated team of officers who have the appropriate qualifications, skills and experience to deliver the services provided.

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What does our Licensing Service do?

We regulate business offering the following goods or services;

  • alcohol, regulated entertainment and late night refreshment (pubs, clubs, off licences, supermarkets, restaurants and takeaways etc.)
  • taxis (drivers, vehicles and operators)
  • gambling (betting shops, adult gaming centres and gaming permits etc.)
  • special procedures (tattooing, piercing, acupuncture etc.)
  • scrap metal dealers and motor salvage operators
  • sex establishments
  • charitable collections (street and house to house)
  • street trading

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How to contact us

You can contact us by:

  • telephone 01824 706342:
    • between the hours of 8:30am and 12:30pm Monday to Friday
    • from 12:30pm we will operate a telephone messaging service
    • voicemail is operational and is monitored
  • email
  • by post: PO Box 62, Ruthin, LL15 9AZ
  • in person (by appointment only): County Hall, Ruthin, LL15 1YN
    To ensure there is a member of the Licensing Team at the Offices, please arrange an appointment through any of the contact methods, if you choose to attend the office without prior arrangements you risk not being seen by a member of the Licensing Team

Although we will seek to work with you in the most appropriate way to meet your individual needs our preferred method of contact is by email.

Communication

Our Service Standards when you contact us are:

  • when you write to us by email, we aim to provide an automated acknowledgement immediately, and
    • respond to your enquiry within 10 working days.
    • tell you when we cannot respond fully within 10 working days and tell you when we will be able to respond.
  • when you call us between the hours of 8:30am and 12:30pm we aim to answer your call as soon as possible and make sure your enquiry or request is directed to the right person first time.
  • when you call us between 12:30pm and 5pm (4:30 pm on a Friday): You will be diverted to our telephone messaging service where you will hear a number of options, in the first instance you will be advised to visit our licensing web-pages where you will find general information and application forms.
  • if you can’t find what you are looking for, please email us and we will respond to your query as outlined.
  • respond to voicemail messages within 1 working day.

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Objectives

Our objectives are to:

  • provide effective administration on all licensing applications
  • deliver a programme of inspections of premises, people and vehicles
  • deliver effective enforcement action against those contravening licensing requirements
  • provide an efficient and expedient service for dealing with customer enquiries and complaints
  • review policies, procedures, conditions etc

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How you can help us

We commit to providing excellent customer service and meeting customer expectations. There are many ways you can help us to achieve this, you can:

  • access most of our services online and in most cases, using our website is the quickest and easiest way to access our products and services to quickly resolve your query. You can use the website to find information, report or request a service.
  • make a payment online, where available.
  • when you contact us, please ensure you have your reference number to hand and if you are visiting our offices, please bring with you all the correct documentation and information to enable us to deal with your request quickly, reducing the number of unnecessary contacts or visits
  • keep us updated with any changes that may affect the services we provide
  • let us know if you wish to cancel an appointment within 24 hours
  • refrain from contacting us to check on the progress of an application unless the time taken is nearing the standards outlined in our licence application standards
  • tell us if we exceed your expectations or don’t deliver a service to your satisfaction through our complaints, compliments and feedback webpage
  • treat our staff with courtesy and respect. We will not deal with any rude or disruptive customers or tolerate any physical or verbal abuse towards our staff. Such incidents will be dealt with in consideration of the council’s Policy for dealing with unacceptable customer behaviour:
    Policy for dealing with unacceptable customer behaviour

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Helping you to get it right

We want to work with you to help your business to be a success, and it is important to us that you feel able to come to us for advice when you need it. We won’t take enforcement action just because you tell us that you have a problem.

We make information and guidance on meeting statutory obligations available on our website.

Where you need advice to help you to meet your legal obligations we will:

  • provide up to one hour free advice that supports compliance and that can be relied on
  • provide up to one hour free advice that is appropriate for your circumstances and is not overly burdensome
  • provide clear advice that can be easily understood and implemented
  • distinguish legal requirements from suggested good practice 
  • ensure that any verbal advice you receive is confirmed in writing if requested
  • acknowledge good practice and compliance.
  • where you need advice that is tailored to your particular needs and circumstances we will provide this by offering one hour free consultation.  Any further advice needed will be chargeable or you will need to seek your own legal advice.

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Working with others

Our Licensing Service works closely with other council services such as Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Planning and Legal and Democratic Services and our aim is to provide a streamlined service to you.

We have a good working relationship with partner agencies and regulators such as other Local Authority Licensing services, Police, Fire HM Revenues and Customs, which includes sharing information and data on compliance and risk, where the law allows.

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Working with businesses and others we regulate

In all your dealings with us you can expect, and will receive, an efficient and professional service. Our team of officers will:

  • treat you with courtesy, respect and fairness at all times
  • always identify themselves by name when dealing with you, and provide you with contact details
  • seek to gain an understanding of how your business operates and the pressures you face
  • provide details of how to discuss any concerns you may have
  • agree timescales, expectations and preferred methods of communication with you
  • ensure that you are kept informed of progress on any outstanding issues.

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Licence applications

Application package requests for all licences will be issued within 5 working days of receipt, however in most instances you will be directed to the website where you will be able to download application forms or apply online.

When you apply for a licence, and on receipt of all satisfactory supporting documents, including results of all third-party checks/tests/certificates, we aim to process and grant applications and requests within the following timescales.

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire

We aim to:

  • issue a new driver licence within 5 working days
  • issue a renewal driver licence within 10 working days
  • issue a new vehicle licence within 5 working days
  • issue a renewal vehicle licence within 10 working days
  • process a transfer of vehicle licence within 10 working days
  • issue a new Private Hire Operator Licence within 5 working days
  • issue a renewal private hire operator licence within 10 working days
  • provide a Driver Knowledge Test within 5 working days of request

Licensing Act 2003

We aim to:

  • issue all licenses relating to new/variations/transfer of premises license applications within 10 working days of grant
  • process complete and valid Temporary Event Notice applications within three working days where there are no objections from the Police
  • process and issue personal licence within 5 working days

Gambling Act 2005

All licenses relating to new/variations/transfer of licence applications will be issued within 10 working days of grant.

Miscellaneous applications

We aim to issue:

  • a new / renewal Scrap Metal collector / site licence within 10 working days
  • a new / renewal licence for a sex establishment within 60 working days
  • a permit for a street or house to house collection within 10 working days
  • a consent for a street trading permit within 60 working days

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Enforcement, Inspections and other compliance visits

We use a risk-based approach to target our resources. A light touch inspection regime will be employed for well managed and maintained premises with a targeted and graduated inspection and enforcement regime for problem and high-risk premises. Proportionate, programmed and intelligence led inspections will be undertaken and where necessary, inspections will be undertaken in response to complaints from third parties.

When we visit you, our Officers will:

  • explain the reason and purpose of the visit 
  • carry their identification card at all times, and present it on request when visiting your premises
  • exercise discretion in front of your customers and staff
  • have regard to how you approach compliance within your business, and use this information to inform future interactions with you
  • provide advice to support you in meeting your statutory obligations, if required
  • provide a written record of the visit upon request or where matters warrant a follow up written record e.g. complex matters

Responding to non-compliance

Where we identify any failure to meet legal obligations, we will respond proportionately, taking account of the circumstances, in line with our Enforcement Policy.

Where we require you to take action to remedy any failings we will:

  • explain the nature of the non-compliance
  • discuss what is required to achieve compliance, taking into account your circumstances
  • clearly explain any advice, actions required or decisions that we have taken
  • agree timescales that are acceptable to both you and us, in relation to any actions required
  • provide in writing details of how to appeal against any advice provided, actions required, or decisions taken, including any statutory rights to appeal
  • explain what will happen next, including any timescales
  • keep in touch with you, where required, until the matter is resolved

We deal proportionately with breaches of the law as set out in our Enforcement Policy, including taking firm enforcement action when necessary.

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Having your say

This section explains how to raise a complaint, request a service, appeal, or provide feedback.

Complaints/Service Requests and appeals

We will investigate and resolve complaints and service requests made in relation to premises or services we licence within 20 working days.

We manage complaints about our service through Denbighshire’s Corporate Complaints Policy.

Feedback

We value input from you to help us ensure our service is meeting your needs.  We would like to hear from you whether your experience of us has been good or in need of improvement.

This helps us to ensure we keep doing the right things and make changes where we need to. We use customer satisfaction surveys from time to time but we would welcome your feedback at any time.

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