Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Armitage, the Chair of the Committee; and from Councillors Charlwood, P Latty and Townsley

Having noted the apologies received from Councillor Armitage, the Clerk sought a nominee to Chair the meeting. Councillor G Hyde was nominated and received the support of the Committee

RESOLVED – That Councillor G Hyde be elected as Chair of the meeting

No formal late items of business were added to the agenda. It was however noted that one late representation from a member of the Hackney Carriage trade had been submitted via email to the Committee the previous evening although not all Members had seen the representation. The Committee resolved to consider the submission, including the request to speak, at the appropriate time (minute 68 refers)

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the last meeting held on 16^th October 2012

(copy attached)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held 16^th October 2012 be agreed as a correct record

To consider the report of the Head of Licensing and Registration on the review of several key areas of work in respect of Private Hire, Hackney Carriage and Executive Hire vehicle conditions and the Plying for Hire Policy. The report sets out the results of public consultation undertaken and seeks the Committees’ consideration of whether any changes are required to the relevant policies

(Report attached)

The Head of Licensing and Registration submitted a report in response to an earlier request by the Licensing Committee for officers to undertake a review of all existing Hackney Carriage (HC) and Private Hire (PH) licensing policies. The review had been broken down into three distinct groups as follows: -

Group 1: included policies and conditions relating to the application process, medical exemptions; stretched limousines (driver, operator & vehicle) and PH driver conditions. Group 1 was considered by Committee in October 2012

Group 2 : presented to this meeting included policies and conditions relating to PH vehicles (including wheelchair accessible vehicles, vehicle age criteria, livery signs and markings); HC vehicles; plying for hire policy; and Executive Private Hire.

A further report on Group 3 would be considered in due course to cover policies and conditions in respect of PH operators and vehicle proprietors (including rental companies); and convictions.

The results of two public and trade consultations undertaken as part of the Group 2 review were included within the report. The Head of Licensing and Registration attended the meeting and highlighted the following key issues arising from the consultation responses and the subsequent officer proposals for the Committee to consider as follows:

  Private Hire (PH) Vehicle Conditions:

-  That an additional condition be included to require a minimum width of 16 inches was provided for each seated passenger to ensure a reasonable level of comfort whilst travelling and to ensure the vehicle is suitable to carry a given number of passengers

-  That a further period of vehicle profiling be carried out with the results intended to inform a review of the vehicle age criteria in 2016, noting that a review of the entire vehicle fleet would take 3 years

-  A 3 month consultation was proposed on the draft guidance on the use of immediate suspension powers.

-  That there be no other changes to the existing PH vehicle conditions. The conditions will be reviewed again in 2018 and every 5 years thereafter, unless any change in circumstances requires the policy to be reviewed at an earlier date.

  Hackney Carriage (HC) Vehicle Conditions

-  That there be no change to the existing HC vehicle conditions. The conditions will be reviewed again in 2018 and every 5 years thereafter, unless any change in circumstances requires the policy to be reviewed at an earlier date.

  Plying for Hire Policy

-  That there be no change to the existing plying for hire policy. The policy will next be reviewed in 2018 and every 5 years thereafter, unless any change in circumstances requires the policy to be reviewed at an earlier date.

  Executive Private Hire (EPH) Conditions

-  That there be no change to the existing EPH vehicle conditions. The conditions will be reviewed in 2018 and every 5 years thereafter, unless any change in circumstances requires the policy to be reviewed at an earlier date.

-  Members were referred to the comments received from the trade seeking a reduction to the minimum value set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

To consider the report of the Head of Licensing and Registration providing details of the legislative process necessary to make an Early Morning Restriction Order. The report also makes recommendations in respect of the evidence required to proceed with the making of an Order and building in a period of time into the process in which remedial action can be taken

(Report attached)

The Head of Licensing and Registration presented a report on Early Morning Restriction Orders (EMRO’s), the legislative process for making an EMRO and the information that the licensing authority could require.

The Committee discussed the existing measures in place to deal with problematic individual premises

RESOLVED -

a)  That approval be given to the minimum level of evidence that will be considered to support an early morning restriction order application, as proposed in paragraphs 3.5 and 3.6 of the report.

b)  That approval be given to the process described in the submitted report and illustrated at appendix 1 as the Council’s process for EMROs should a request to consider one be made.

To consider the report of the Head of Licensing and Registration presenting the Home Office Consultation on delivering the Government’s policies to tackle alcohol fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour

(Report attached)

The Head of Licensing and Registration submitted a report on the Government’s consultation on delivering policies to cut alcohol fuelled crime and anti-social behaviour. A copy of the full Consultation document had been despatched to the Committee in December 2012 when the consultation commenced and Members’ views were sought in order to inform the Councils’ response.

Members highlighted the following points they would wish to see included in the consultation response:

Deregulation of ban of alcohol sales on motorway – Members were not supportive of any moves to allow the sale of alcohol from premises located on motorways, including hotels.

Multi buy promotions – one Member advocated the return to local conditions which had prevented alcohol being purchased within grocery shopping at supermarkets, thus requiring the retailer to create a separate off-licence facility within the supermarket – rather than seeking to ban multi buy promotions

Newspapers – Members were generally not supportive of any moves to lift the requirement for applications to be advertised in newspapers

Personal licences – Members supported in principle the suggestion that renewal of personal licences after 10 years be retained and be administered by Local Authorities

Members also noted that it would not be possible for the final consultation response to be presented to the Committee for approval due to the short timescales and agreed that a draft response be circulated to Members for comment prior to submission to the Home Office.

RESOLVED –

a)  That the contents of the report and the comments made by Members be noted.

b)  That the comments made by Members be incorporated into the Councils’ response to the consultation and

c)  To note the arrangements for the submission of the final response to the Home Office by 6 February 2013.

To note the contents of the Licensing Work Programme and indicate any additional future items

(copy attached)

RESOLVED – That the contents of the Licensing Work Programme, with the additions made at this meeting, be noted

To note the date and time of the next meeting as Tuesday 12^th February 2013 at 10:00 am

RESOLVED – To note the following meeting dates

a)  Friday 25^th January 2013 – additional meeting

b)  Tuesday 12^th February 2013 – scheduled meeting