Agenda and minutes

The minutes of the meeting held on 19^th January 2016, copies of which had been circulated, were taken as read, and having been approved were signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the proceedings.  Various Licensing Sub Committee meetings were also signed by the relevant councillors who had chaired those meetings.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Neil Bloomfield and Jenny Kenton.

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (adopted July 2012), which includes all the provisions relating to Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI), personal and prejudicial interests, Members are asked to declare any DPI and also any personal interests (and whether or not such personal interests are also "prejudicial") in relation to any matter on the Agenda for this meeting. A DPI is defined in The Relevant Authorities (Disclosable Pecuniary Interests) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 1464) and Appendix 3 of the Council’s Code of Conduct.  A personal interest is defined in paragraph 2.8 of the Code and a prejudicial interest is defined in paragraph 2.9. In the interests of complete transparency, Members of the County Council, who are not also members of this committee, are encouraged to declare any interests they may have in any matters being discussed even though they may not be under any obligation to do so under any relevant code of conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

a)    Questions/comments from members of the public

This is a chance for members of the public and representatives of Parish/Town Councils to participate in the meeting by asking questions, making comments and raising matters of concern.

No questions or comments were raised by members of the public.

In the absence of the Licensing Enforcement Officer, the Licensing Manager summarised the agenda report, which updated members on the work of the Licensing Enforcement Team and the various issues that they were currently involved with including Taxis & Private Hire Vehicles, Street Trading and Scrap Metal Dealers.

In response to member questions, the Licensing Manager explained that:

·         It was down to the individual operators to carry out appropriate vehicle checks.  He would expect the operators to have a tick sheet for checking their vehicles and for an inspection to take place before they set off.  It was clear that this was not always happening;

·         The number of taxi/private hire related complaints was fairly level, previously there had been many more issues.  The new policy for vehicles being no more than five years old at first registration had helped; 

·         The Licensing Department had the authority to issue a Section 68 ‘Stop’ notice on a vehicle if necessary;

·         All visits to Scrap Metal Dealers were undertaken on the basis of a risk assessment.  Officers had the use of lone working monitoring devices which had a panic button.  Visits to new Scrap Metal Dealers were undertaken in pairs.  Officer safety was always taken seriously and proper procedures were followed.  The Chairman advised that he had raised the need for a dedicated Police Officer to accompany and assist the Enforcement Officer at a Police Panel meeting and would continue to raise the issue;

·         Although 10% of vehicles receiving penalty points was not an acceptable figure it was at the lower end of the scale compared to other local authorities.

During discussion on the item, it was proposed that Officers look into the possibility of whether a condition could be added to vehicle licences to ensure that vehicle checks are undertaken.  One member commented that it would be difficult for loan drivers to undertake vehicle checks and therefore we should be careful how check sheets are enforced as they would not always be practical.  It was agreed that the Licensing Manager would look at whether it was possible to enforce Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle checks and report back to the next meeting.

The Licensing Manager summarised the report as set out in the agenda.  He explained that the fare setting formula devised sought to demonstrate the true costs of providing taxis and the cost per mile figure necessary to sustain the valuable public service economically.  It was proposed to commence the statutory objection period, with the advertisement of the public notice on 21^st April ending 5^th May 2016.  He referred members to the draft proposed hackney carriage passenger fare levels and additional charges as outlined in Appendix A and highlighted that the last increase in taxi fares was in April 2008.   

During discussion on the item, the Licensing Manager noted the comments of members and responded to questions on points of detail which included the following:

·         A member referred to the AA figures and commented that petrol figures were much lower now compared to when the last review was undertaken.  She also commented that rural location was very relevant as journeys take longer.  In response, the Licensing Manager explained that petrol price was only one element of the AA figures and that the figures also included wear and tear, car tax and insurance and these areas had not decreased in the intervening period;

·         It would take some time to meet 25% of the fleet being wheelchair accessible although numbers were gradually increasing;

·         An explanation of the tariffs as referred to in Appendix A was outlined as follows: Tariff 1 daytime up to 11pm, Tariff 2 11pm until 6.00am, Tariff 3 bank holidays including Christmas Day and New Years Day;

Following discussion on the item, the majority of members supported the recommendations of the report.

(Voting: 11 in favour, 1 against, 0 abstentions)

The Licensing Manager reported that due to an administration error the agenda report had not been sent out to the four people who had objected to the proposed fees and suggested that the item be deferred.  Members were in agreement for the report to be deferred to a Special meeting of the Licensing Committee.  It was agreed that the meeting would be held on Tuesday 26^th April 2016 at 10.00am at the Council Offices.

Members noted that the next scheduled meeting of the Licensing Committee would be held on Tuesday 7^th June 2016 at 10.00am in the Council Offices, Brympton Way, Yeovil.