The Council has launched 2 important policy consultations today: one on our Statement of Licensing Policy and another on our Street Trading Policy. Full details on the reasons for these consultations, and how to respond to each of them, are set out below.
Statement of Licensing Policy Consultation
The Council of the Isles of Scilly is updating its Statement of Licensing Policy 2020-2025, which sets out how we regulate and license businesses that sell or supply alcohol, or provide entertainment or late-night refreshment on Scilly.
The law requires that a Statement of Licensing Policy be reviewed every five years and we encourage you to have your say on the draft policy for 2026 – 2031 by responding to our Statement of Licensing Policy consultation, as set out below.
Further information about the requirements for this consultation (as set out in the Licensing Act 2003) and the changes being proposed, can be found on the Licensing Act 2003 page of our website.
How to respond to our Statement of Licensing Policy consultation 2026
In order to respond to our Statement of Licensing Policy consultation, please do the following:
- Read the proposed draft Licensing Policy (2026-2031), which can also be found attached to the bottom of our Licensing Act 2003 webpage
- Respond to our online Statement of Licensing Policy survey by clicking on the link below:
| CLICK HERE TO RESPOND TO OUR LICENSING POLICY SURVEY |
If you do not wish to complete the survey online, you can request a paper copy from the customer hubs at St Mary's Library or the Carn Gwaval Wellbeing Centre. You will need to return your response to these venues in a sealed envelope addressed to the Licensing Department, or post it back to us at the following address:
Licensing Department
Council of the Isles of Scilly
Old Wesleyan Chapel
Garrison Lane
St Mary's
Isles of Scilly
TR21 0JD
All responses must be received before the deadline at 4.30pm on 27 February 2026 in order to be taken into account
Next steps
Responses to the consultation will be analysed and taken into consideration following the deadline, with amendments made to the draft as necessary. The draft policy will then be taken back to Licensing Committee for consideration, and finally to Full Council for approval before it comes into effect.
If you have any further questions about this consultation, please email licensing@scilly.gov.uk or call 0300 1234 105 and ask to speak to the Licensing Officer.
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Street Trading Policy 2026 Consultation
The Licensing Committee has determined that there should be a review of our current Street Trading Policy to make the application process (which involves multiple Council departments) clearer for traders.
The draft Street Trading Policy 2026 recommends that the only sites that can be used for street trading on St Mary’s are those sites listed in the draft policy as ‘Commercial Trading Sites.’
The prohibited streets remain the same as in the existing policy, but with the addition of Church Street and the Parade. The reason for this change is that, in the view of the Highways Department, those two areas are also unsuitable for street trading, as they are likely to cause traffic or road safety issues.
It is proposed that the Council will NOT consider any street trading applications other than those applying to use Commercial Trading Sites. Therefore, any selling of articles in public places (on Council owned land) that is not in a Commercial Trading Site under the provision of a consent, or not listed under an exemption, will be classified as unauthorised street trading and the Council will enforce against those persons.
The proposed usable hours for the sites are 9am to 8pm daily, and we will only be accepting applications for those who wish to sell food as their primary product.
Further information about this policy review can be found on the Street Trading page of our website.
How to respond to our Street Trading Policy 2026 consultation
In order to respond to our Street Trading Policy consultation, you must do the following:
- Read the proposed draft Street Trading Policy 2026, which can also be found on our Street Trading webpage.
- Respond to our online Street Trading Policy survey by clicking on the link below:
| CLICK HERE TO RESPOND TO OUR STREET TRADING SURVEY |
If you do not wish to complete the survey online, you can request a paper copy from the customer hubs at St Mary's Library or the Carn Gwaval Wellbeing Centre. You will need to return your response to these venues in a sealed envelope addressed to the Licensing Department, or post it back to us at the following address:
Licensing Department
Council of the Isles of Scilly
Old Wesleyan Chapel
Garrison Lane
St Mary's
Isles of Scilly
TR21 0JD
All responses must be received before the deadline at 4.30pm on 27 February 2026 in order to be taken into account
Next steps
Responses to the consultation will be analysed and taken into consideration following the deadline, with amendments made to the draft as necessary. The draft policy will then be taken back to Licensing Committee for consideration and finally to Full Council for approval before it comes into effect.
If you have any further questions about this consultation, please email licensing@scilly.gov.uk or call 0300 1234 105 and ask to speak to the Licensing Officer.