West Berkshire dog boarders fighting 'barking mad' proposed license fee hike

Councils reviewing 375 per cent increase, which also impacts Bracknell and Wokingham

DOG boarders in West Berkshire have been granted “a stay of execution” over a proposed 375-per-cent increase to licence fees.

Businesses were told “out of the blue” a week before the coronavirus lockdown that their fee would rise to £570.

A petition and pressure against the “barking mad”, unfair and unjustified decision has paused the hike until later this year.

Leone Boler, who runs E“leash”ium from her home in Brightwalton, said she was shocked and horrified to learn of the hike in an email from the Public Protection Partnership (PPP), which covers West Berkshire, Wokingham and Bracknell.

She said: “There was no consultation. We all got emails out of the blue.

“It’s all come as a bit of a shock.

“Business was not going well because of the virus around anyway.

“Before lockdown we had a lot of cancellations, so the last three or four months there’s been no money whatsoever.

“We get 90 per cent of our business through holidays and if people aren’t going on holiday there is no work, so how do they expect us to find £570 when we’ve technically been unemployed for the last four months?

“Business is slowly picking up, but it’s nowhere near where it was last year.

“I know of at least two businesses who are not renewing their licence because they can’t afford to.

“It’s sad, there are micro businesses that people have set up on their own and they’re being shut down because of the council’s greed.”

Dog boarders are graded on stars, with the length of the licence corresponding to the number of stars.

As a result, the £570 fee could apply for one year or four, depending on a rating.

The new licence fee would also be higher than the £500 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs fine for failing to obtain a licence.

“There’s no uniform pricing, some people are being well and truly ripped off,” Mrs Boler said.

The PPE said that the increase was to account for £57 per hour for licensing work to meet higher standards.

Mrs Boler said that businesses were being charged unfairly for 10 hours work for a process that took two hours maximum.

She said: “We won’t be able to afford it. We made £1 profit last year.

“We don’t do it for the money, we do it because we like our job.

“We don’t want to let our customers down either.

“We are not going to put our prices up by 375 per cent, we will probably borrow the money to pay for it.”

Following a petition and protests, West Berkshire Council spokeswoman Peta Stoddart-Crompton said: “We will be contacting all home dog boarders to let them know that we are pausing this fee whilst we carry out a review.”

Mrs Boler said: “We’ve all had a stay of execution.

“It’s going to review in October but we all know what will happen, it will come back and they’ll say ‘we have reviewed it and we are going to keep it at £570’.

“It’s just a stalling tactic by them to get us all to shut up for a bit.”

The petition against the charges, started by Karen Fleck, said: “Such a large increase cannot be considered fair or justified and is contrary to the principle that local government is there to help and support local businesses thrive.

“Many home boarding providers have a very low turnover, and are already struggling with a downturn in bookings caused by the Covid-19 pandemic; a significant number will be unable to pay.

“They will either be forced to cease trading or have to increase their prices considerably to cover this huge increase.”

The petition can be signed at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/help-local-dog-boarders-reduce-barking-mad-licence-fees