Agenda and minutes

L.06/17

In light of the Vice-Chairman having submitted his apologies to this meeting, nominations were invited to serve as Vice-Chairman for the duration of this meeting.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That Cllr D Brown be appointed Vice-Chairman for the duration of this meeting.

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 25 May 2017 and the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting held on 25 May 2017;

L.07/17           

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 25 May 2017 and the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting held on 25 May 2017 were both confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of suchinterests; they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

L.08/17           

Members were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting, but there were none made.

For clarity, Cllr D W May did wish for it be noted that, whilst he owned an MOT Testing Centre, he had offered no view or input into the licensing of taxi vehicles.

L.9/17            

Consideration was given to a report that sought to recommend to Council approval of the draft Taxi Licensing Policy.

In his introduction, the Chairman highlighted some concerns that he had been made aware of in relation to the proposed Fees and Charges Table.  As a consequence, he was of the view that there was a need for greater work to be carried out on the Fees and Charges Table and felt that this should be initially discussed in an informal Committee Workshop.  In the ensuing discussion, a number of Members welcomed this suggestion.

In discussion on the draft Policy, reference was made to:-

(a)    the use of fire extinguishers.  Whilst the Policy could promote the need for fire extinguishers in licensed hackney carriage and private hire vehicles to help tackle minor incidents, officers advised that it could not be a mandatory requirement, particularly when a number of drivers would not have been trained on how to use them properly;

(b)    the requirement for vehicle licence holders to carry copies of documents including: Driving Licence; Insurance; and V5 Registration Document.  The Committee was informed that removal of this requirement had been requested during the consultation exercise.  However, it would still remain a requirement to make these documents available for inspection.  Nonetheless, a Member expressed his disappointment at the proposal to particularly remove the requirement in relation to carrying a copy of the Driving Licence and Insurance.

It was then:

RESOLVED

2.       That the Committee defer a decision on the Fees and Charges Table to a future Committee meeting.

L.10/17

Members were presented with a paper that provided them with a summary of the licences that had been issued between 1 October 2016 and 30 September 2017.

The Committee welcomed the fact that all Members and town and parish councils were consulted on every application and the view was expressed that this working practice was well received.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the summary of licences issued between 1 October 2016 and 30 September 2017 be noted.