Unity5 Launches Abandoned Vehicle Module and Licensing Portals

Lambeth is an inner-London borough south of the river Thames. The borough covers an approximate area of 10.5 square miles and includes the areas of Waterloo and the South Bank, Vauxhall and the Oval, Kennington, Stockwell, Clapham, Brixton and more districts.

With a population of approximately 322,000 residents, it has the second highest proportion of its population within the working age range in London. There have been significant levels of growth in the licensed trade since the introduction of the Licensing Act 2003, both in terms of the number of premises and the number of hours being operated for.

Lambeth Council has set out bold ambitions. By 2030, Lambeth will be a clean, vibrant and climate resilient borough where people can lead healthier, happier lives, making Lambeth one of the safest boroughs in London. By 2030, Lambeth will be a ‘lifelong borough’, with the best conditions to grow up and age well, where everyone can contribute to an inclusive economy, and have a place to call home.

Traditional Challenges with Licensing Enforcement

Despite a commitment to ambitions, it’s clear that without a robust, flexible software system in place licensing can be a massive drain on time and resources for councils. Lambeth were facing some of these familiar issues:

• Slow, manual application processing
• A lack of a centralised overview for diverse license types (skips, markets, tables/chairs)
• Platform instability
• Difficulties with complex integration
• Poor user experience for external business users, data security, and legacy system replacement
• A struggle to maximise fee capture and reconcile payments
• Lack of visibility on ensuring timely renewals

Council takes a balanced approach to Licensing

Lambeth Council prefers to operate a targeted approach to enforcement, where compliant, well-regulated licensed businesses are not generally a focus of enforcement and where licensed businesses that do not meet this standard are supported to become compliant and well-regulated.

Where appropriate, the council will aim to give licence holders early warning of any concerns about problems identified at any licensed premises and identify the need for improvement. Repeated or cumulative breaches of licences will potentially lead to a review where the full history of the venue will be examined. This would not preclude the taking of other enforcement action in an appropriate case.

Licensing Enforcement Software that’s Configurable

Built within Unity5’s Zatpermit system, the Licensing module is ready to be customised and integrated, enabling Local Authorities to digitise and manage multiple public-facing licenses and inspections, from shop fronts to on street furniture – securely, compliantly, and with maximum automation.

Local authority licensing departments frequently operate across disparate, paper-based, or spreadsheet-driven systems, leading to high administrative costs, poor applicant experience, and significant compliance risk.

Zatpermit offers value such as:

• A single, central hub for all license types, eliminating data silos and ensuring one place for reporting and payment reconciliation for clear operational and revenue oversight – as well as inspections.
• Configurability & integrations. New license application workflows are enabled, including custom fields and geographical restrictions, ensuring every application meets legal and local planning requirements before it lands on an officer’s desk.
• Centralise all public licenses into one configurable system, eliminating manual form-creation and being able to report for operations.
• Leverage the proven stability and APIs of the Unity5 Zatpermit platform for a scalable, future-proof licensing hub.
• Accelerate revenue capture with automated payments and reporting that instantly highlights outstanding license fees and analyses usage.

Time and costs are saved using the Licensing Module in Zatpermit

The Zatpermit system saves time and costs while making life easier for council staff. Here are some of the key benefits:

• Reduced amount of systems/spreadsheets used for licensing – using custom fields for multiple license types (skips, market, tables/chairs, etc.)
• Faster license application time from submission to final approval – with integrations for LLPG ID Verification & Council Software
• Increased license renewal revenue capture – through proactive automated reminders.
• More data-driven decisions using reports – via automation and customisable reporting
• Reduced time and increased compliance on inspections – through real time system updates via the integrated inspections module

How does it work?

Here are some of the useful features of Unity5’s Licensing system:

• Multiple Addresses – Licence account holders can manage multiple licences across different business premises or venues.
• Questionnaires based on Licence type – Licensing requires a fully flexible questionnaire format for the council to supply to applicants. Questions can be tailored to gather varied and detailed information depending on the licence type.
• Dynamic Pricing – configurable pricing supports dynamic or fixed pricing. Renewal fees can be set at a reduced rate, licences can be amended post issue with payment/refund adjustments as needed.
• Consultation Notices – licence and consultation notices can be generated as part of the application process. Features include uploading custom templates including council branding, use of merge fields and On Demand generation.
• Consultation Portal – covers the period during which the public or stakeholders can object to a licence being granted. Can be enabled/disabled per licence type. Time frame window is editable. Stakeholders are notified via email and there is a Public Portal with a searchable map showing basic licence information. Feedback submission functionality is also included.
• Support of Inspections – the system allows digital support for the inspection of a premises before approval. Create custom inspection forms and log inspections against applications. Automatically notify applicants with the inspection date/time, inspectors can complete and submit forms digitally.

Software that’s designed to cover a wide range of licensing

The solution is made to be as configurable as possible to allow the easy onboarding of many licence types including, but not limited to:

• Pavement
• Shop Fronts
• Tables and Chairs
• Market traders*
• Skips
• Scaffolding
• Premises
• Environmental waste
• Gambling
• Fireworks and explosives
• Alcohol
• Club premises
• Hypnotism
• Animal

(*goes live 2026)

Abandoned Vehicle Portal allows reports on nuisance vehicles

The abandoned vehicle management (AVM) software provides a user-friendly digital method for customers to report nuisance vehicles. This transforms the manual, and often poor-quality public reports into verifiable, actionable case files instantly, creating cleaner streets for residents by accelerating the removal process, whilst significantly reducing administrative burden. Key benefits and features include:

• Reports are managed within our Zatpark system
• Automated DVLA checks and letter management
• Inspection tasks are raised automatically
• Inspection reports can be carried out on-street using integration with the Zatpak mobile app
• Automated progressions based on inspection outcome
• Removal requests are sent to the Zatpak mobile app for on-street removal
• Updates are sent out to the public informing of progress updates

A spokesperson at Lambeth Council said:
“We’ve already noticed a massive reduction in the time taken to process licensing applications and get them active – even including time for a consultation process. This software will ultimately help us to ensure a much improved and safer experience for residents using local businesses and enjoying events throughout the borough for years to come.”

Oli Pelliccio, Interim Customer Operations Director at Unity5 said:
“We’re delighted that Lambeth Council have embraced digital transformation to empower their staff and moved away from time-consuming paper based work. We’re pleased to have provided them with the solution to centralise all their public licensing into one configurable and robust system, where Zatpermit eliminates manual form-creation. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this has on both staff and businesses in the borough.”

Lambeth Council use Unity5 for Environmental Enforcement

Lambeth also needed an easy to use system to help keep their streets safer and cleaner. They are now using Unity5’s Zatenviro environmental enforcement software to easily issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs). These reduce and minimise offences such as littering, fly-tipping, dumping of waste, graffiti, dog fouling and cover PSPOs (Public Spaces Protection Orders).

For more information about Licensing software, or to discover why 1 in 3 local authorities across the UK use Unity5 systems contact our friendly team to set up a discovery call.

Click here to view more case studies about our work with a range of local authorities.

About Unity5

Unity5 is the creator of Zatpark - SaaS Solutions For Parking, Enforcement and Environmental Management - Designed for private parking companies and public sector bodies, Zatpark delivers world-class features completely controlling and automating the full lifecycle of parking enforcement data, from issue to recovery action and every step in-between. Built-in ANPR, Moving Traffic Violation Management and dedicated Permit and Kiosk solutions, Zatpark, Zatmobile, Zatpermit, Zatenviro, and Zatpark Flexible Enforcement provide end-to-end management of all your PCN and FPN activities