Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Sachin Mathur and Brandon Clayton, with Councillor Craig Warhurst in attendance as the substitute Member for Councillor Brandon Clayton.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests and / or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting of 15^th May 2025 were presented to Members.

Councillor Andrew Fry apologised for not submitting his apologies for this meeting.  

RESOLVED that

The minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 15^th May 2025 be approved as true and accurate record and signed by the Chair.

There were no public speakers.

The Licensing and Support Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), presented the report to Members. The purpose of the report was to review the mandating of CCTV in taxis.

Members were informed that on 1^st September 2022 Redditch Borough Council had introduced The Statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards (‘The Standards’). The Standards were published in July 2020 and included the use of CCTV as an area for Local Authority discussion.

The Council already had a voluntary CCTV option in place for all vehicle owners. On introduction of the policy in 2022 Officers had advised that they would monitor intelligence and would engage with partners to ensure that the policy remained in line with what the data was showing us.

The Licensing and Support Services Manager, WRS, highlighted to Members, that as detailed in the report, currently only a small number of licensing authorities (7%) had made it a legal requirement for all taxi and private hire vehicles to be fitted with mandatory CCTV systems. These authorities had been able to demonstrate through evidence and intelligence that such a policy was necessary. More recently these had included Barnsley Council, Portsmouth and Southampton, Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Council. Swindon Borough Council did mandate CCTV but had then reversed the decision due to a number of challenges.

The Council’s current policy which came into effect on 1^st September 2022 was consulted upon and stated that the Council recognised that CCTV systems could act as an additional safeguard, providing protection, confidence and reassurance to the public, when travelling in a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle as well as to drivers, who could also be victims of violence and abuse.

Furthermore the current policy allowed the proprietor of any vehicle, which had been authorised to be used as a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle,  to install CCTV cameras in their vehicle subject to the following requirements:-

·                 No installation of a CCTV system shall take place within a licensed vehicle unless the proprietor of the vehicle has notified the Council in advance.

·                 All CCTV systems which are installed into licensed vehicles must be compliant with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018. The system must also be compliant with the Information Commissioner’s requirements in respect of registering the system and the capturing, storing, retaining and using any recorded images.

Officers had assessed the complaints data received by WRS and the context of information received alongside the data from the current WRS Strategic assessment. On evaluation it was evident that the number of complaints received were more directed at driver behaviour or vehicle standards than they were connecting a driver to a serious offence or safeguarding issue such as assault, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or substance misuse.

Members were further informed that the safeguarding training for taxi drivers now included mitigating such situations and covered both drivers’ personal safety and their safeguarding responsibilities.

Officers had a proactive working relationship with West Mercia Police,  Community Safety, and WRS Officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

The Licensing and Support Services Manager, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), presented the report to Members.

The purpose of the report was to update Committee Members on the delegated authority to WRS Officers, to determine applications for licenses to use vehicles as hackney carriage or private hire vehicles where the vehicles did not meet the Council’s required criteria in respect of the age of the vehicle.

It was noted that there was a typographical error in paragraph 3.9 (page 51 of the main agenda report).  The date  should read 1^st August 2024 and not 1^st August 2025.

Members were reminded that on 29^th March 2023, following consultation, that Licensing Committee Members had directed Officers to proceed with the actions required to delegate authority to determine applications for licences to use vehicles as hackney carriages or private hire vehicles where the vehicles did not meet the Council’s required criteria in respect of the age of the vehicle.

A considerable number of such applications were made each year, and it was recognised that arranging and attending Licensing Sub-Committee Hearings to determine such applications, was time consuming and resource intensive for all involved from arranging the Sub-Committee Hearings to collating information and getting Members of the Licensing Committee together to determine such applications.

The proposed delegation to Officers was considered by the Constitutional Review Working Party (CRWP) and on 7^th March 2024 the CRWP made a recommendation to Council that, for a trial 12 month period, that Officers be given delegated authority to determine hackney carriage and private hire vehicle applications that fell outside of the Council’s age criteria policy.

On 20^th May 2024 Council resolved that the delegation be given to Officers for a 12 month period as recommended by the CRWP. The trial period was due to end on 31st July 2025.

As highlighted in the preamble above, Council approved a 12 month trial period rather than a permanent delegation to Officers.

This report sought to update Committee Members on the outcome of the 12 month trial period.

Officers had been determining such applications since 1^st August 2024 using a robust set of procedures that provided a clear audit trail on the decision-making process.

32 vehicles had been inspected, which was not dissimilar in numbers to those considered by Licensing Sub-Committee Members in the previous year (39) from June 2023 to July 2024.

During the 12 month trial period, 4 vehicles were refused and 28 were granted.

The process had worked well and had ensured well-reasoned and detailed decisions were reached using professional and transparent methods. Vehicles were inspected by a Licensing Officer with a qualified mechanic at the Council’s dedicated testing facility. Officers had implemented a very strict criteria and vehicles could be seen at the Council’s testing facility within a short period of time.

Officers had also noted an increase in vehicle standards throughout the duration of the 12 month trial period and overall feedback from the applicants appeared to be positive. The flexibility  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

No amendments or additions to the work programme were raised.

RESOLVED that the Licensing Committee Work Programme 2025/2026, be noted.

(In view of the fact that information may be revealed in relation to individuals, the identities and financial or business affairs of those individuals and the prosecution of crimes, any reports will be confidential and circulated to Members and relevant Officers only.)

There was no Enforcement or Appeals Matters on this occasion.

To consider any Urgent Reports, details of which have been notified to the Assistant Director of Legal, Democratic and Procurement Services prior to the commencement of the meeting and which the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, considers to be of so urgent a nature that it cannot wait until the next meeting.

There was no Urgent Business on this occasion.