Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Andrew Fry and Rachel Smith.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests 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.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 2^nd November 2016.

(Minutes attached)

RESOLVED that

the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 2nd November 2015 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider the feedback from the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire

liaison meetings held on 18th January 2016.

The Committee considered a brief update report following on from the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting held on 18th January 2016.

The Chair highlighted that the meeting was well received by the taxi trade, however she was disappointed that only five private hire licensed drivers had attended.  The Chair stated that it would prove really useful should the Taxi Association be re-formed, as suggested by the licensed drivers who had attended the meeting.

The Chair suggested that a further Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting be held in August 2016.

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), informed Members that, following on from the meeting and the issues raised by the licensed drivers with regards to the bus station, officers had entered into dialogue with the bus station owners to see if the issues could be resolved.  The issue with regard to the ingress / egress of the bus station could not easily be solved due to the design of the bus station and the taxi bays.  Councillor A. Clayton informed the Committee that she was a member of the Town Centre Partnership and would raise the issue of the bus station taxi rank  ingress / egress at the next meeting of the Town Centre Partnership.

The Committee were in agreement that not all of the issues raised at the meeting could be easily resolved, if resolved at all; but Members and officers could provide an update on what had been achieved in respect of the issues raised should a further Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting be held in August 2016.

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, responded to questions from Members and in doing so, agreed to liaise with licensed drivers with regard to a Taxi Association being re-formed.  In respect of the bus station ‘feeder rank’, the Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, explained that problems often occurred when there were too many taxis parked in the area.  It was difficult for licensed drivers to see, on approach, how many cars were already parked in the area.  Once drivers had driven into the area they were then reluctant to drive  back around, so often stayed parked in the area which resulted in too many parked licensed vehicles.  The Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, agreed to look into additional detailed signage being erected in order to address this issue.

The Democratic Services Officer informed the Committee that, as agreed at the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting, Councillor Pattie Hill had agreed to raise the issue of signage being installed at the railway station using specific funding from Worcestershire County Council (WCC).  To date Councillor Pattie Hill had not received a response from WCC but she would endeavour to keep the Democratic Services Officer updated as to progress.

RESOLVED that

(a)  the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting update report be noted; and 

(b)  that the Senior Licensing Practitioner, Worcestershire Regulatory Services, be tasked to arrange a further Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

To consider information received from a licensed private hire operator that

consideration is given to relaxing the Council’s vehicle age policy in relation to

private hire vehicles that are wheelchair accessible and fitted with hydraulic

lifting equipment.

The Committee considered a report detailing information from the recent Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting and a letter received by Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) from a licenced private hire operator in respect of the Council’s vehicle age policy.

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, presented the report and in doing so reminded the Committee that vehicle age policies had been discussed at the recent Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Liaison meeting in January 2016.  Appendix 1 to the report detailed a letter from a licensed private hire operator who had operated in the Borough of Redditch for the past twenty years.  It had been requested by a number of license holders, and the private hire operator mentioned, if consideration could be given to relaxing the Council’s existing vehicle age polices for both hackney carriage and private hire vehicles. 

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, further explained that a balance should be maintained between the needs and requests of the taxi trade and what was deemed to be an appropriate age limit for the purpose of ensuring that vehicles on the taxi fleet were suitable, safe and presentable; whilst also taking into account the continued advances in relation to vehicle safety and reliability.

Members were reminded that any vehicle proprietor with a vehicle that was outside of the Council’s age exemption policy could submit an application for exemption and have their application determined at a Licensing Sub-Committee meeting.  Licensing Sub-Committee Members would then decide whether or not to grant such an application, taking into account any exceptional circumstances that justified them going outside of the Council’s age exemption policy.

In July 2013, the Council updated the vehicle age policy for private hire vehicles in relation to vehicles that were constructed or adapted to load and convey wheelchair users.  These vehicles could be licensed as private hire vehicles provided that the vehicles met all other requirements and were not older than six years of age when first licensed; and could remain licensed until they were not older than twelve years of age from the date of first registration.  In November 2013 the same vehicle age policy was agreed in relation to hackney carriage vehicles.

Further discussion followed whereby Members highlighted that the decision to update the Council’s vehicle age policy, with regard to vehicles constructed or adapted to load and convey wheelchair users, had been changed in the hope that this would increase the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles on the borough’s taxi fleet.  Councillor Gay Hopkins commented that she had spoken with the Licensing and Support Manager, WRS, who had confirmed that there had been no significant increase in the numbers of this type of vehicle.

The Senior Licensing Practitioner informed the Committee that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had, during its meeting held on Tuesday 16th February 2016, agreed to conduct a Short Sharp Review in respect of Disabled People’s Access to Redditch’s Taxi Fleet.  Councillor Gay Hopkins informed Members that she had been appointed as Chair of the Short  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

To consider a report on a penalty point schemes as a tool to assist them in

relation to ensuring the holders of hackney carriage and private hire licences

are compliant with the requirements they have upon them as licence holders.

The Committee considered a report which provided details of a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Penalty Point Scheme to use as a tool to ensure that holders of hackney carriage and private hire licences were compliant with the requirements they had upon them as licenced holders.

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS), introduced the report and in doing so informed the Committee that other local authorities had introduced penalty point schemes as an additional mechanism for dealing with minor offences and acts of non-compliance, where there was no impending risk to the travelling public.  A penalty point scheme was used in order to assist them in addressing low level breaches of regulations and to ensure that licensed drivers remained compliant.

The holders of hackney carriage and private hire licences issued by the Council were subject to a number of legal requirements and licence conditions which governed how they conducted their business.

WRS, who acted on behalf of the Council, were responsible for ensuring that licence holders complied with these legal requirements and were responsible for taking appropriate action when dealing with any licence holders who had committed offences or had failed to comply with their legal requirements.

Currently there were a number of options available to officers from WRS when dealing with offences or acts of non-compliance, as summarised:-

·         Verbal warnings

·         Written warnings

·         Formal cautions

·         Prosecution

·         Referral to a meeting of a Licensing Sub-Committee

The way in which offences and acts of non-compliance were dealt with by officers from WRS was dependant on the circumstances of each individual case; whilst having appropriate regard to the Regulator’s Code and relevant enforcement polices in order to ensure that any action taken was proportionate.

The introduction of a penalty point scheme would not affect the Council’s ability to take formal enforcement action for any offence or act of non-compliance as every case would continue to be considered on its own merits.  A penalty point scheme would not be an appropriate mechanism for dealing with serious offences or acts of non-compliance.

Appendix 1 to the report detailed a draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Penalty Point Scheme for Redditch Borough Council for consideration by Members.  Should Members approve the draft penalty point scheme, officers from WRS would then conduct further consultation on the penalty point scheme with licence holders and other relevant organisations.  The results of the consultation exercise would be presented to a future meeting of the Licensing Committee.

In response to questions from Members, the Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, informed the Committee that a penalty point scheme would enable officers to build up evidence.  Any licensed driver who continued to breach their conditions and were in receipt of a number of penalty points under the scheme would be brought before a meeting of the Licensing Sub-Committee.

The Chair stated that she had welcomed the report as she had received verbal complaints with regard to licenced drivers.  The Chair thanked the Senior Licensing Practitioner, WRS, for presenting the report.

RESOLVED that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

To consider the Committee’s Work Programme for the current municipal year 2015/2016.

The Committee considered the Licensing Committee Work Programme for the remainder of the 2015/16 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED that

the Licensing Committee Work Programme 2015/16 be updated as discussed and agreed during the course of the meeting.