The last to take the French permits (7)
I believe the answer is:
enables
'permits' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'the last to take the french' is the wordplay.
'last' says to take the final letters.
'to take' becomes 'nab' (I've seen this in another clue).
'the french' becomes 'les' (plural form of 'the' in French).
The last letter of 'the' is 'e'.
'e'+'nab'+'les'='ENABLES'
(Other definitions for enables that I've seen before include "Facilitates or empowers" , "Makes possible" , "Renders capable" , "Allows" .)