Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Crofton, Redfern and Townsend.

The Chairman thanked Members for their contributions to the Committee over the term, with special mention to those who had taken part in Licensing Sub-Committees.

To receive any Members’ declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 October 2022.

It was moved by Councillor Jones and seconded by Councillor Bolton, that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 October 2022, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 26 October 2022, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Minutes of meetings of the Licensing Sub–Committee held on 19 October 2022.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee meeting held on 19 October 2022 be received.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager presented the report. He said that under Section 16 of the Transport Act 1985, the council had the power to limit the number of hackney carriage vehicles where there was no significant unmet demand for services. He said that the 2019 results from the survey showed no significant unmet demand and a decision was made to cap the number of vehicle licences at 200.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said the unmet demand survey should be carried out at least every three years. At the end of 2022, the survey was carried out and it showed that there was a significant unmet demand in the district for services of hackney carriage vehicles. He said that a significant proportion of unmet demand was created by private train station taxi ranks, availability of rank space and demands on it were heavily influenced by public parking illegally on taxi ranks. He said that the public had expressed frustration at vehicles not being available for prebooking.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that hackney carriages were carrying out much more prebooked, school and contract work than rank work. There was a national shortage of drivers and increasing the number of vehicles wouldn’t necessarily increase the number of drivers. As a result of the survey, the report was recommending that the limit should be increased by 5% over the existing cap. He said this would increase the number from 203 to 213. He said that the 5% increase should be enough to see the level of demand decreasing when it is measured by the next unmet demand survey. The implications of increasing the frequency of the survey were that hackney carriage vehicle licences would become more expensive as the cost of the survey is included in the fee. The more frequent the survey, the more expensive a licence was.

The Chairman asked if the council had a waiting list for people who want to come forward to apply for a licence.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said there was not a waiting list and the licence limit had not been reached.

The Chairman asked if the council would be publicising the increase to the limit of taxi licences.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said the team had contacted the hackney carriage trade to let them know of the potential increase and they had already had some enquiries. He said he didn’t want to start a waiting list until the decision had been made regarding the criteria for which vehicles would be acceptable. The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager used fully wheelchair accessible vehicles as an example.

The Chairman asked how the criteria would be worked through and whether it be brought back to committee. He said he was keen to see more vehicles with wheelchair access.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said the decision process for the criteria would be the same route as this decision and would be scrutinised in the same way.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 399.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager introduced the report and confirmed that further details relating to any trends/types of complaints being received by the department had been included as per Members’ requests. 

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager drew Members’ attention to paragraphs 3.7 and 3.8 of the report, which detailed the licensing points issued to two drivers during Quarter 2 and Quarter 3, and the performance monitoring figures for the department for the same period.

Councillor Bolton asked for assurance that the Police and Environmental Health had oversight of the significant increase in the number of Temporary Event Notices (TENs). The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that the increase in TENs was post pandemic, during which there were no events. He confirmed that the Police sent a response to every TEN, which would be flagged for scrutiny should problems be known to exist and he clarified that the Licensing and Environmental Health departments shared a system for recording investigations and complaints.

The Environmental Health Service Manager said that Environmental Health prioritised TENs, carrying out visits and trying to rectify issues where appropriate.

It was proposed by Councillor Bolton and seconded by Councillor Wilson that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Review of Licensing Activity in Quarter 2 and Quarter 3 of 2022 be reviewed and received.

The Environmental Health Service Manager introduced the report, which was accompanied by a presentation. He highlighted several key areas to Members, including Animal Activity Licenses, Approved Premises and Food Business Registration, Dangerous Wild Animal and Zoo Licensing and Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s).

The Chairman referred to the report and asked if the zero-figure attributed to the number of campsite licenses currently

issued within the district was due to the caravan club being exempt from application. The Environmental Health Service Manager said that this was correct, as the caravan club had met government standards.

The Chairman asked how the council ensured that those trading from vans and trailers were selling food fit for human consumption. The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that the Licensing department had taken this function from Environmental Health, and that such sellers required permission from the landowner (for example, the pub landlord) and a Street Trading Consent to operate. He said that a Street Trading Consent was a laminated certificate, which included photo ID of the applicant, which should be displayed. He asked that any unlicenced traders be reported to the Licensing department, who would then investigate. 

The Chairman asked that a sample Street Trading Consent be circulated to the Members of the Committee following the meeting.

The Environmental Health Service Manager said street traders who sold food were also required to register their food business and would be awarded a food hygiene rating once inspected. He said that traders may be registered with a different local authority, but that ratings were shared between authorities. He said that any concerns regarding street food traders should be reported to Environmental Health, giving a description of the vehicle and its registration number as they were reliant on such intelligence.

Councillor Reed asked for clarification of the Licensing requirements for those street trading Christmas trees and fireworks. The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that these activities were classed as street traders, and that those selling fireworks would also be required to register with Trading Standards.

It was proposed by Councillor Page and seconded by Councillor Jones that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Update on Environmental Health Licensing and Registration be scrutinised and received.

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

There was no urgent business.