Agenda and minutes

3.1             The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was taken as read.  

4.1             Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs G F Blackwell and Mrs A Hollaway.  There were no substitutions for the meeting.  

5.1             The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 26 June 2012 and took effect from 1 July 2012.

5.2             There were no declarations made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the Licensing Committee meetings held on 11 February and 17 May 2016 and the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading, Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 4 February 2016.

6.1             The Minutes of the Licensing Committee meetings held on 11 February and 17 May 2016 and the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 4 February 2016, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as correct records and signed by the Chair. 

To approve the renewal of the current hackney carriage tariff until 31 July 2017.

7.1             The report of the Licensing and Systems Officer, circulated at Pages No. 7-11, asked Members to conduct the annual review of the hackney carriage tariff.  It was recommended that the current tariff be renewed until 31 July 2017.

7.2             Members were informed that Section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allowed a District Council to fix and vary a table of fares for hackney carriages in the area.  There were four hackney carriage vehicles in operation in Tewkesbury Borough.  The current tariffs, attached at Appendix A to the report, had come into effect on 18 July 2014.  The Licensing and Systems Officer confirmed that there had been no significant changes in the last 12 months which would affect the tariff and no complaints from members of the public.  All licensed proprietors and drivers of hackney carriages in the Borough had been contacted in March 2016 inviting them to make suggestions regarding the amendment of the current tariff; no responses had been received from the proprietors and this was taken to mean that they were happy with the current tariff in operation.  There had been no increase in the fuel prices in the South West region since the tariff was last reviewed and the consumer price index, the Government’s target measure of inflation, was at 0.03% in April 2016.

7.3             Having considered the information provided, it was

RESOLVED          That the current hackney carriage tariff be renewed until 31 July 2017.

To consider the responses received during the consultation on the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and recommend to Council that it be adopted. 

8.1             The report of the Licensing and Systems Officer, circulated at Pages No. 12-55, informed Members of the outcomes of the consultation on the revised draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.  Members were asked to recommend to Council that the draft policy be adopted.

8.2             The Chair indicated that some private hire drivers may have applied to Tewkesbury Borough Council for a licence as, historically, it had been viewed as a ‘soft touch’ compared to other licensing authorities.  He did not feel that this was the case and the Licensing and Systems Officer explained that the criteria around being defined as ‘fit and proper’ was being tightened within the revised policy, for example, through the introduction of a language test.  In addition, the Borough Council was the first local authority within Gloucestershire to introduce safeguarding training for its drivers and to consider social services information alongside the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates and driving records of applicants.  He explained that the perception may partially be due to Tewkesbury Borough Council having no vehicle age limit within its policies whereas neighbouring authorities such as Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City Councils did impose limits.  The main reason for this was that a lot of the private hire drivers within the Borough provided school transport and many drove modified vehicles to carry disabled passengers.  There was a significant cost associated with this and it was not felt that it would be fair to impose an age limit which would mean those vehicles had to be replaced, provided they were still roadworthy.  The Legal Adviser indicated that, from a legal perspective, the Council’s licensing policies were robust and would be made even stronger if the proposed revisions were approved.

8.3             On 11 February 2016, the Licensing Committee had approved the revised draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy for a six week consultation.  The consultation had commenced on 18 March 2016 and had been published on the Council’s website.  Letters had been sent to all responsible authorities and neighbouring authorities, as well as licenced drivers and operators, inviting them to take part.  Members were advised that a QR code had been included on the letters which, when scanned, took the consultee directly to the consultation and this had been very well received.  Five responses had been submitted during the consultation, all of which were from the taxi and private hire trade in the Borough.  The responses were attached at Appendix B to the report.

8.4             The Chair indicated that a Licensing Sub-Committee meeting had been held earlier that day and had brought to light a potential issue within the draft policy.  He explained that, with regard to major traffic offences, the policy currently stated that more than one conviction would require the application to be referred to the Licensing Sub-Committee for a decision; however, the Sub-Committee had felt that this was insufficient as offences of this nature should result in the application being determined by the Sub-Committee.  It was therefore  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.1             On a proposal from the Chair, it was

RESOLVED          That, under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely discussion of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act. 

To approve the separate Minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 4 February 2016. 

10.1           The separate Minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 4 February 2016, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.