More than £30,000 will be refunded to sex shops in Nottingham after rules were relaxed, making it easier for them to renew licences.
It comes after the council was challenged on the price it charges for sex shops to renew their licences.
Back in 2016, a challenge to the fees was brought against the authority. It was subsequently withdrawn, but as the challenge was in place, the council decided to freeze the price of applications.
Previously, uncontested applications for licence renewals had to be heard by a full committee, and the costs involved were passed on to the applicant.
However, since 2017, decisions have actually been taken by an officer, at a lower cost, but the applicants were still being charged the costs for the committee.
As a result, Nottingham City Council has decided to refund the additional costs, backdated to 2016 when the challenge was lodged.
It means in total £30,876 will be paid back to three sex shops in the city.
Paul Dales, acting head of environmental health and trading standards at Nottingham City Council, said: “We have traditionally taken all applications for these establishments to a committee of councillors for formal discussion and approval.
“However, since 2017 this has moved more towards council officers having the power to make decisions without committee involvement. The aim is to streamline the process and speed things up for applicants.
“The licence fee was traditionally set to take into account that Regulatory and Appeals Committee hearings would be held, and there would be associated costs to cover administration and legal support. It is right to reimburse those businesses now that we have a new way of working.
“Licence holders will still need to be licensed and have to apply to renew their licences on an annual basis, but the fee has been reduced in line with this development.”
