A pavement licence allows businesses selling food and drink to put removable furniture such as counters, tables and chairs on the highway adjacent to its premises.

The fast track procedure for the grant of pavement licences bypasses existing regulatory regimes; in particular, a pavement licence:

• authorises the restriction, by anything done by the licence-holder pursuant to the licence, of public access to the part of the relevant highway to which it relates without the need for a Highways act permit
• constitutes deemed planning permission for anything done by the licence-holder pursuant to the licence, thus removing any requirement for a separate planning application
• removes any requirement for a street trading licence in respect of anything done by the licence-holder pursuant to the licence