Licences are required so that applications for skips to be placed on the public highway comply with the requirements of legislation.
Licences are required to ensure the skips are not placed so as to block access to property or apparatus within the highway, reduce highway widths to an unacceptable extent or to restrict visibility at junctions, accesses and crossing points.
Skip Licences are issued only to recognised skip companies. This ensures skips are adequately maintained, showing the details of the owner of the skip should an emergency occur.
Any company wishing to place a skip within the highway must provide documentary evidence of the appropriate level of public liability insurance (currently £5m) at the time that they apply for the Skip Licence.
Requests for skip licences should be made by the skip hire company (not the customer) and the licence, subject to approval, will be issued to the skip hire company.
Skips on the highway must be properly maintained, clean and guarded during the day by traffic cones and fitted with lamps during the hours of darkness. Skips must be removed from the highway not later than two days after it has been filled or upon expiry of the licence.
Please download and complete the appropriate Word or PDF version of the application form first from the options below. Once done, submit your completed application form and other relevant documentation using the online form.
We aim to process your application as soon as possible. Up to 5 days is required to issue a skip permit. We will confirm that we have received your application.
It's in the public interest that we must process your application before you can place the skip on the highway.
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the local authority may appeal to the Magistrates Court and the Courts may give such direction as it thinks proper.
The individual skip companies set the charges for skips. The charges for disposal of the contents of the skip to a suitable licensed tip are set by Central Government.
We have set a charge to cover the costs involved in the issuing of skip licences. The application fees normally changes annually so for this year's fee please view the fee information.
When a complete application has been received we may carry out an inspection of the proposed skip location in order to decide whether to grant permission. Where the placing of a skip on the highway would cause traffic disruption, we may refuse the application.
We will check the application against the register of Street works. Where placing the skip would interfere with any street works being carried out, we will negotiate for the skip to be placed on different dates or a different location. We may refuse the application where no alternative date or location can be found.
