Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of previous Licensing Committee meetings held on 8December 2020 and 13 July 2021.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Licensing Sub Committee meetings held on 8 February, 26 April, 8 June and 16 August 2021.

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Licensing Committee held on 8^th December 2020 and 13^th July 2021 were approved as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Sub Committees held on 8^th February 2021, 26^th April 2021, 8^th June 2021 and 16^th  August 2021 were approved as a correct record and would be signed by the Chairman.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Dave Bulmer, Kevin Messenger and Linda Vijeh.

In accordance with the Council's current Code of Conduct (as amended 26 February

2015), 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.

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.

There were no members of the public present at the meeting.

Members are asked to note that the next meeting of the Licensing Committee will be held on Tuesday 11^th January commencing at 10.00am.

Members noted that the next meeting of the Licensing Committee would be held on Tuesday 11^th January 2022 at 10.00am. 

The Specialist – Licensing explained that the consultation on the draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy was published on the Council’s consultation hub (Citizen Space) and commenced on 1 August 2021 and ended on 26 September 2021. In addition to this, the consultation was sent to a number of consultees including all licensed drivers, operators and proprietors and other district council’s that had a policy.

The Specialist – Licensing said that the consultation comprised of the policy, details of the changes made to the policy and a questionnaire which focussed on views to do with the key changes. Respondents also had the opportunity to comment on any other aspect of the policy.  At the end of the consultation, a total of 14 responses were received.  She informed members that details of the questions asked and the responses were outlined in detail in the agenda report.  In most questions there was a significant response in favour of the suggested policy or no opinion was offered. The only questions where there was significant divided opinion were in relation to:

·         a change from an age limit on private hire vehicles to applying the current EURO emission standard for new applications

·         a change from requiring interim MOTs to vehicles under the age of 5 requiring a vehicle inspection at the time of application or renewal and having one MOT and vehicles over the age of 5 would require a vehicle inspection at the time of renewal

·         a change to the percentage of wheelchair accessible vehicles

The Specialist – Licensing recommended that no further revisions were required to the policy based on the consultation responses.

During the discussion, Members raised a number of comments and questions. In response, the Lead Specialist – Environment and Specialist – Licensing advised members of the following:

·         The percentage of wheel chair accessible vehicles was currently well above the 25% proposed.  If it were to drop below the 25% as stated in the proposed policy new vehicles at that point would have to be wheelchair accessible. 

·         There had been very few responses received on the proposed policy in relation to the change to the percentage of wheelchair accessible vehicles in comparison to the number of people consulted.  It was felt that the proposal was the best balance that could be achieved in view of the recommendation from the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee.

·         The Licensing Specialist had delegated authority to consider applications for non-wheelchair accessible vehicles and only in exceptional circumstances would they need to be referred to the Licensing Committee.

·         The proposed policy regarding the percentage of wheelchair accessible vehicles applied to Hackney Carriage fleet and not the Private Hire operators.

·         The 14 responses received were from a variety of sources including private hire operators, vehicle licence holders, drivers and users.

·         The draft revised policy proposed a new requirement for vehicles over 5 years to obtain an inspection at the mid-point of the vehicle licence.  All references to mileage had been removed.

·         A driver’s licence could be issued  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.