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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Tewkesbury Borough Council Offices, Severn Room

Contact: Democratic Services Tel: 01684 272021  Email:  democraticservices@tewkesbury.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

16.

Announcements

When the continuous alarm sounds you must evacuate the building by the nearest available fire exit. Members and visitors should proceed to the visitors’ car park at the front of the building and await further instructions (during office hours staff should proceed to their usual assembly point; outside of office hours proceed to the visitors’ car park). Please do not re-enter the building unless instructed to do so.

 

In the event of a fire any person with a disability should be assisted in leaving the building.   

Minutes:

16.1          The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

17.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

To receive apologies for absence and advise of any substitutions. 

Minutes:

17.1          Apologies for absence were received from Councillors G F Blackwell and C L J Carter.  There were no substitutions for the meeting. 

18.

Declarations of Interest

Pursuant to the adoption by the Council on 26 June 2012 of the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct, effective from 1 July 2012, as set out in Minute No. CL.34, Members are invited to declare any interest they may have in the business set out on the Agenda to which the approved Code applies.

Minutes:

18.1          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.

18.2          There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

19.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 84 KB

To approve the Minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 14 October 2021 and the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 10 December 2021.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

19.1          The Licensing Operations and Development Team Leader indicated that she would like to provide clarification in respect of the Minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 14 October 2022 and the Committee’s resolution in relation to the Mobile Homes and Caravan Sites Licensing Policy 2021-24 as set out at Minute No. LIC.13.6.  She confirmed that “qualified electrical technician” was the appropriate wording as opposed to “qualified electrical engineer”; the policy had been updated accordingly and would be taken to the Executive Committee meeting on 2 March 2022 for approval.  The second part of the resolution had asked that consideration be given to taking flood risk into account when assessing the risk rating of caravan or mobile home sites and Members were informed that this would be done on an individual basis assessing each application on its own merits.  If planning consent was required, it would be for planning to look at enforcement.

19.2           The Minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 14 October 2021 and the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 10 December 2021, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as correct records and signed by the Chair. 

20.

Licensing Service Review Update pdf icon PDF 128 KB

To consider the progress made in relation to the licensing service review to date and the planned project actions that are due to be carried out. 

Minutes:

20.1          The report of the Environmental Health Manager, circulated at Pages No. 7-11, provided an update on the progress made to date in relation to the licensing service review and the planned project actions that were due to be carried out.

20.2          The Licensing Operations and Development Manager advised that the report outlined what had been achieved within the service over the last few months and timescales for delivery of the project aims. 

20.3          It was

RESOLVED          That the licensing service review update be NOTED.

21.

Revised Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Licensing Policy - Amendment to Driver Medical Requirements and Inclusion of Gloucestershire Common Standards pdf icon PDF 137 KB

To determine whether the Licensing Authority should amend the current full medical criteria to a summary record and, if so, then approve the amendment set out in Paragraph 2.9 of the report which will be incorporated in the revised draft policy attached at Appendix A; and to recommend to the Executive Committee that the revised Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Licensing Policy, attached at Appendix A, incorporating the Gloucestershire Common Standards which were agreed by the Licensing Committee at its meeting on 14 October 2021, be adopted.  

Additional documents:

Minutes:

21.1          Attention was drawn to the report of the Licensing Operations and Development Team Leader, circulated at Pages No. 12-107, which asked Members to consider an amendment to the current medical criteria for drivers set out within the Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Licensing Policy and to recommend to the Executive Committee that the revised policy, incorporating the Gloucestershire Common Standards, which the Licensing Committee had agreed at its meeting on 14 October 2022, be adopted.

21.2          The Licensing Operations and Development Team Leader explained that, at its meeting on 14 October 2021, the Licensing Committee had agreed to update the Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Licensing Policy to include the Gloucestershire Common Standards which had been drawn up by licensing authorities across the county based on national guidance.  The policy had duly been updated and the Committee was asked to recommend it to the Executive Committee for approval at its meeting on 2 March 2022.  The Licensing Operations and Development Team Leader went on to advise that Officers had been looking at the medical criteria for drivers and an amendment to the wording contained within the Policy was proposed at Page No. 15, Paragraph 2.9 of the report.  She explained that the current requirement was for a medical examination to be carried out by a GP at the surgery where the applicant was registered; however, during the pandemic it had been extremely difficult for drivers and new applicants to get a doctor’s appointment, let alone see their GP, so Officers had deviated from the policy and allowed drivers/applicants to use any medical practitioner registered by the General Medical Council to complete the medical assessment providing that practitioner had access to the patient’s full medical record.  With regard to medical records, the Licensing Operations and Development Team Leader indicated that it was quite laborious for Officers to go through the whole medical report, a lot of which could be irrelevant in terms of being fit and proper to be a taxi/private hire driver, as such, it was also proposed to change the requirement for a full medical record to a summary record which would give the medical information required to safely determine a candidate’s fitness to drive.  It was noted that Cheltenham Borough Council and Stroud District Council both followed this approach.

21.3          It was

RESOLVED          1. That an amendment to the current medical criteria within the Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Licensing Policy be APPROVED as set out at Paragraph 2.9 of the report and incorporated into the revised draft policy attached at Appendix A to the report.

2. That it be RECOMMENDED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE that the revised Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Licensing Policy, attached at Appendix A to the report, incorporating the Gloucestershire Common Standards which the Licensing Committee agreed at its meeting on 21 October 2021 and the amendment in 1. above, be ADOPTED.

22.

Separate Business

The Chair will move the adoption of the following resolution:

 

That under Section 100(A)(4) Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Minutes:

22.1          On a proposal from the Chair, it was

RESOLVED           That, under Section 100(A)(4) 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.

23.

Separate Minutes

To approve the separate Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) meeting held on 10 December 2021.

Minutes:

23.1          The separate Minutes of the meeting of Licensing Sub-Committee (Street Trading and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles, Drivers and Operators) held on 10 December 2021, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record, subject to an amendment to Minute No. LSUB/B.11.2 to change ‘ceased’ to ‘seized’, and signed by the Chair.