Animal establishment licence fees are set to rise again in Powys, but despite this, the council is predicting it will make a loss.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Planning, Taxi Licensing and Rights of Way committee last week councillors received a report from animal health team manager Gavin Jones following an annual review of the fees.

The consultation took place in January with all licensees and the fee increase will be backdated to start from April 1.

The slight increase in the charges should have seen an increase of £333 collected by the department.

This is if the number of licensees had remained the same as last year.

But according to the report there are fewer pet shops and a reduction in numbers in other categories sees the department predict a £54 loss this year.

Mr Jones said: “You’ll note that the projected income is slightly lower and that’s due to the yearly fluctuations in the amount of premises we have.”

He explained that the fees cover the cost of staff processing licences from application stage through to its issue, and also administration including training, equipment, travelling and inspection.

Mr Jones added that any vet bills would be invoiced to licensees and “recovered in full.”

Mr Jones said that in comparison with other Welsh local authorities, Powys was “not the cheapest - it’s by far not the most expensive.”

A vote to approve the recommendation was unanimously supported by the committee.

The licence fee charges will be:

• Home Boarder/Day Care - £215 - up from £213 in 2023/2024.

• Commercial kennels/cattery - £291 - up from £288.

• Dog Breeder - category one - £378 - up from £374.

• Dog Breeder - category two - £434 - up from £429.

• Dog Breeder - category three - £489 - up from £483 in 2023/2024.

• Pet shop - £326 - up from £322 in 2023/2024.

• Dangerous wild animals - £663 - up from £656 in 2023/2024.

• Riding establishment - category one - £ 379 - up from £375 in 2023/2024.

• Riding establishment - category two - £423 - up from £419 in 2023/2024.

• Fees for a zoo go up to £2682 from £2597 - but there are no licensees in this category for Powys.