Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to extend the granting of pavement licences beyond the current expiry date of 30 September 2021.

The ability to obtain a licence to place tables and chairs on the highway is a permanent measure set out in the Highways Act 1980. Last summer the Government introduced temporary pavement licence provisions in the Business and Planning Act 2020 which created a quicker and cheaper process for obtaining a licence.

This Act contains an enabling power allowing the Secretary of State to extend the provisions beyond the current expiry date of 30 September 2021, where it is considered reasonable to do so to mitigate an effect of coronavirus.

The Secretary of State has written to local council leaders and made a statement (HCWS829), on Planning and Hospitality, setting out his intention to extend these temporary pavement licence provisions for 12 months until September 2022, subject to Parliamentary approval.