A trio of councils in west Kent have formed a collaborative partnership to run their authorities' licensing operations.
Tunbridge and Maidstone borough councils, together with Sevenoaks district council, have consolidated their three separate licensing management processing into a single service, based on a single, new computer system, to run licensing applications for activities ranging from street trading to taxi businesses.
The new computer system, from supplier Idox, enables people applying for licences, or appealing against licensing decisions, to do so online, to their own local authority, but their applications are then dealt with by a single, central system, run by a team based in Sevenoaks.
Licensing officers in all three authorities are able to access and maintain licensing data. Applications are able to visit their own council offices in person if necessary and licence hearings are still heard locally by local council licensing committees.
This approach maintains the sovereignty of individual authorities, according to the supplier, while taking advantage of the savings gained through centralisation.
Andrew Riley, Idox's sales director said the system illustrates the potential for increasing efficiency and lowering operating costs in councils, through a combination of technology and partnership working.
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