Licensing of activities involving animals: consultation

Part 7 Animal Boarding (including day care)

Background

In Scotland, the boarding of dogs and cats is regulated by the Animal Boarding Establishments Act 1963 ("the 1963 Act"). The 1963 Act is enforced by the local authorities. Any person who carries on a business, at any premises, of providing accommodation for other people's cats or dogs must currently be licensed under the 1963 Act by the relevant local authority. Carrying on such a business without a licence is an offence.

The 1963 Act also—

• makes provision for a fee to be charged by the local authority;
• prohibits the local authority from granting a licence to certain disqualified persons;
• makes provision for appeals by the licence holder against a decision of a local authority;
• allows for inspections of premises by authorised inspectors;
• allows a court to order the cancellation of a person's licence and/or disqualify that person from carrying on the licensable activity upon conviction for an offence under the 1963 Act or other statutes listed in that Act;
• allows the local authority to specify licence conditions provided that they necessary or expedient for securing objectives listed in the 1963 Act and
• makes provision for licences with a term of no more than one year.

Whilst the 1963 Act delivers some degree of statutory control over animal boarding activities and accountability where animal welfare is compromised, it is dated and inflexible legislation. The Scottish Government therefore proposes to revoke the 1963 Act and introduce new licensing requirements for animal boarding that will be delivered through the same framework as used in the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.

The case for updating animal boarding licensing requirements

Key inadequacies of the 1963 Act relate, in particular, to the way in which licences can be administered and enforced by the licensing authority. For example, under current controls—

• licences can be granted for a period up to of one year, with no flexibility to grant licences of longer duration to consistently compliant licence holders operating to high standards of animal welfare. Under the 2021 licensing framework the licensing authority has the flexibility of granting licences of 1 to 3 years duration. This not only reduces the administrative burden on the licensing authority but can act as an incentive for licence holders to operate to higher standards due to the cost savings.
• there are no provisions allowing the licensing authority to revoke, vary, suspend, or amend any licence granted. In addition, licences can only be cancelled by a Court and only in circumstances where the person concerned has been found guilty of an offence under the 1963 Act or other enactments specified in section 3 of that Act. Under the 2021 licensing framework the licensing authority would gain flexibility to vary any licence granted with, or without, the consent of the licence holder and be able to suspend or revoke licences depending on the circumstances. The 2021 licensing framework does of course provide for an appeals mechanism for persons aggrieved by a decision made by the licensing authority.
• no mandatory licence conditions are specified in the 1963 Act, leaving scope for a wide variation in licence conditions across local authorities. It is acknowledged, however, that the model licence conditions and guidance published in 2011 by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland has enabled consistency in approach to the setting of licence conditions and enforcement thereunder. The Scottish Government is of the view that the 2021 licensing framework provides the most robust and appropriate mechanism for the licensing of animal boarding activities, where detailed and specific conditions of licence can be clearly set out, thereby ensuring a consistent and equitable approach, easily understood by both the licensing authority and licence holder.

Over and above the primary deficiencies of the 1963 Act set out above there are a number of additional benefits to regulating animal boarding activities under the 2021 licensing framework—

• The 2021 framework requires local authorities to arrange for the inspection of any premises linked to a licence application and the inspector must provide to the authority a written report which must be taken into consideration prior to the granting of a licence.
• The 2021 framework requires the licensing authority to take into account the likelihood of an applicant being able to meet the requirements of licensing, based on an assessment of their application and the inspector's report, before issuing a licence. As the conditions of holding an animal boarding licence will be set out in detail in legislation, it will be easier for licensing authorities to make such an assessment and to do so equitably.
• The 2021 licensing framework includes wider offence provisions, including in regard to the provision of false or misleading information by an applicant or licence holder.
• The 2021 licensing framework places a duty on the licensing authority to publish a register on its website of all persons/businesses granted a licence and to make this register publicly available. This is to allow any member of the public to quickly determine if a person offering a particular service is officially licensed. The licensing authority has a statutory duty to keep any such register updated, as necessary.
• The 2021 licensing framework already regulates a number of commercial / non-commercial animal activities in Scotland. The local authorities, with one exception, have responsibility for enforcing the requirements of this framework. Given that local authorities are familiar with the requirements of this framework, and the fact that it was drafted in such a way that other activities can readily be added to it, it makes sense for animal boarding to be regulated using this framework moving forward.

Requirements of future licensing scheme

Whilst not an exhaustive list, it is proposed that future controls on animal boarding activities if brought under the 2021 licensing framework would—

• Require any person offering or providing accommodation for other people's cats and dogs in the course of a business including day care, to be licensed by the licensing authority (this would be the relevant local authority).
• Require applicants for a licence to be inspected by an inspector authorised by the licensing authority before any licence was issued. The inspection would be undertaken to assist in the preparation of a report regarding the applicant, relevant premises, relevant records, the condition of any animals observed and any other relevant matters.
• Allow inspectors appointed by the licensing authority to inspect licensed premises or to enter premises suspected of operating without a licence.
• Require any licence holder to comply with the conditions of any licence granted by the licensing authority. As is already the case for animal related activities subject to licensing in Scotland, the conditions that would need to be complied with would be set out in legislation. The licensing authority would have powers to add additional conditions of licence, but only where it considers it necessary to ensure the welfare of animals.
• Require the licensing authority to be satisfied that the licence conditions are likely to be met and that grant of a licence is otherwise appropriate before issuing a licence. This would involve considering the applicant's conduct, whether the applicant is a fit and proper person and other relevant circumstances. This is already a requirement for licensable activities under the 2021 licensing framework.
• Allow the licensing authority to grant licences for a period of one to three years duration. It is anticipated that licence holders who consistently demonstrate professionalism, high levels of compliance with licence conditions and a solid understanding of animal welfare and care could be granted a licence of up to 3 years duration.
• Allow the licensing authority to charge a fee for the consideration of a licence application and grant of licence.
• Allow the licensing authority to vary, suspend or revoke a licence as appropriate due to the actions or conduct of a licence holder in order to protect animal welfare or for other relevant reasons.
• Require the licensing authority to publish online a register of licence holders. This is to allow the public to quickly check whether a provider of animal boarding services is properly licensed.
• Provide an appeals mechanism for applicants or licence holders aggrieved by a decision by the licensing authority.

Consultation questions

Q1. Do you support our proposal to revoke the 1963 Act and bring animal boarding under the scope of the 2021 licensing framework?

Yes / No / Not sure

Please explain the reason for your answer.

Q2. Are there specific conditions or measures that you would like to see included in any future licensing scheme for animal boarding?

Q3. Do you know of any challenges or negative consequences that may arise from revoking the 1963 Act and licensing instead under the 2021 licensing framework? If yes, what are they and how best could these be addressed?

Q4. Are you aware of any examples of how any of the proposals above may impact, either positively or negatively, on those with protected characteristics?

These are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

Yes / No / Don't know

If yes, please explain your answer.