Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Cllr P Hilliard.

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications.

There were no substitute members.

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm and sign as a correct record the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 7 December 2023 and the Licensing Sub Committee meetings held on 14 and 23 November 2023, 6 and 12 December 2023, 3, 17, 22, 24 and 31 January 2024 and 14 February 2024.

The exempt section of the minutes where relevant are also appended as restricted documents.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee on 7 December 2023 and the Licensing Sub Committees held on 14 and 23 November 2023, 6 and 12 December 2023, 3, 17, 22, 24 and 31 January 2024 and 14 February 2024 be signed by the Chair as an accurate record.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution, which is available to view at the following link:

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of a public question is midday 3 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a public statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

There were no public questions, statements or petitions for this meeting.

A request has been received by Mr David Lane on behalf of BCP taxi private hire association for a 4% increase in the current Hackney Carriage Tariff.

The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allows the council to fix the rates or fares within the district for time as well as distance.

Any change in the tariff will be reflected across all three current Hackney Carriage zones within the BCP Council conurbation.

The Licensing Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Sub-Committee was advised that a request had been received by Mr David Lane, on behalf of BCP Taxi Private Hire Association, for a 4% increase in the current Hackney Carriage Tariff. The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allowed the Council to fix the rates or fares within the district for time as well as distance. Any change in the tariff would be reflected across all three current Hackney Carriage zones within the BCP Council conurbation.

Mr David Lane was in attendance and responded to various questions raised by committee members, as follow:

• A further amendment was requested for the extra charge permitted for five or more passengers in a multi seater, on tariff 1 this went from £1.00 to £2.00 and on tariffs 2 and 3 from £1.25 to £2.00. This was to cover drivers that may have to drive some distance in for a job if a customer had requested a 6/8 seater vehicle. It was highlighted that the vehicles previously used as 6 seaters were no longer available for replacement and therefore drivers had to purchase 8 seater vehicles, which cost more. An additional fare would only be incurred if there were over 4 passengers in a 6/8 seater vehicle.
• Tarif 1 and 2 waiting times were there to recompensate drivers when they were stationary e.g. sat in traffic or or waiting at traffic lights.

RESOLVED that the Licensing Committee approve the request for an adjustment in the current fares and charges as requested.

Voting: Unanimous

The purpose of this report is for the committee to consider an increase to the fees charged by BCP Council for the administration of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing regime.

The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, allows local authorities to set the fees charged to recover the costs associated with the administration and compliance of licensing drivers of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles.

Any change to the fees for vehicles and Private Hire Operators is subject to a 28-day minimum consultation period.

The Licensing Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Committee was asked to consider an increase of 4% to the fees charged by BCP Council in 2023 for the administration of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing regime.  The Licensing Manager explained that an increase greater than 4% ran the risk of losing drivers to neighbouring authorities. It was noted that any change to the fees for vehicles and Private Hire Operators would be subject to a 28-day minimum consultation period.

In response to various questions raised by the Committee, the Licensing Manager advised that:

• It appeared that the BCP application fee was significantly less than what Dorset County Council and Southampton City Council charged, however, BCP charged an application fee, and once approved, drivers then had to pay an additional licence fee, which brought the total cost to £275. In addition, BCP charged more for a 3-year licence.
• The figures given for Southampton City Council and Dorset County Council were up to date.
• A fee review had been undertaken across the service and by law, the authority could only charge fees on a cost recovery basis. It was a challenging process to ensure that vehicles and drivers were operating safely whilst working on a cost recovery basis.
• Any changes to Driver Licence fees would be implemented from 1 April 2024 and changes to Vehicle Licences and Operators Licences would be implemented at the conclusion of the consultation period and/or any other Licensing Committee meeting that may be required.

RESOLVED that the Licensing Committee agree the proposed fees as stated.

The purpose of this report is to establish the licensing fees and charges that should apply from 1 April 2024 for the next three years for those licensing activities where the Council has discretion to do so.

The statutory principle in relation to the setting of fees is that they should be reasonable and should relate to the costs of performing the function, including staffing, administration, testing, inspections, hearings, regulation and appeals.

Inflationary increases to staff salaries mean that costs to provide the service have increased. A 4% uplift in fees has been applied to reflect these increased costs.

The fees under review are as follows:

Scrap Metal Dealers

Pleasure Boats

Sexual Establishments

The fees charged under the Licensing Act 2003 are set by statute so cannot be amended by Local Authorities. The level of these fees have not been amended since they were first introduced in 2005.

The fees charged under the Gambling Act 2005 are subject to a statutory maximum limit. Currently our fees are at this limit and cannot be increased any further.

The Licensing Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'C' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The purpose of the report was to establish the licensing fees and charges that should apply from 1 April 2024 for the next three years for those licensing activities where the Council had discretion to do so.

Inflationary increases to staff salaries meant that costs to provide the service had increased. A 4% uplift in fees had been applied to reflect these increased costs.

The fees under review were Scrap Metal Dealers (3 year Licence), Pleasure Boats and Sexual Establishments (both 1 year licences).

In response to various questions raised by the Committee, the Licensing Manager advised that:

• The fees only covered self-drive boats and passenger boats covering up to 12 passengers, inland only, and did not apply to visiting boats.
• The Licensing Team regularly liaised with Dorset Police with regard to the operation of scrap metal dealers in the conurbation to ensure compliance.
• Legislation stated that scrap metal operatives only required basic DPS checks, which they must fund themselves.

Cllrs Dowell and Farquhar abstained from voting on sex establishment licence fees due to a moral interest.

The Legal Adviser recommended that the vote be broken down into 3 parts so that Clls Dowell and Farquar could vote on the proposed fees for scrap metal dealers and pleasure boats.

RESOLVED that

1. The Licensing Committee agree the proposed fees, as stated, in relation to Scrap Metal Dealers.

Voting: Unanimous

2. The Licensing Committee agree the proposed fees, as stated, in relation to Pleasure Boats.

Voting: Unanimous

3. The Licensing Committee agree the proposed fees, as stated, in relation to Sexual Establishments

Voting: 11 in favour

               2 abstained

The Committee is asked to consider the following minor amendments proposed in respect of private hire vehicles in the current Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy:

·     Colour of Private Hire Vehicles - deadline to be provided to change any current white vehicles.

Current wording

23.1 No vehicle licensed as a Private Hire shall be coloured white. (this is to avoid confusion with Hackney Carriages.)

Proposed wording

23.1 No vehicle licensed as a Private Hire shall be coloured white. (this is to avoid confusion with Hackney Carriages.) Any existing private hire vehicles which are white must be resprayed another colour by 31 December 2024.

·        Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

The best practice guidance document was reissued in November 2023 and this now makes reference to the access to taxis and private hire vehicles for disabled users best practice guidance document which was published in 2022  Access to taxis and private hire vehicles for disabled users - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This guidance includes a specification for a reference wheelchair which is slightly different from the one in the current policy.

Current wording

14.1 The Equality Act 2010 statutory guidance requires that local authorities must publish a list of wheelchair accessible vehicles that are capable of transporting a reference wheelchair as set out in Public Services Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1970/schedule/1/made

14.2 It is expected all vehicles presented to the council to be licenced as a wheelchair accessible vehicle will meet required space standards which are 1500mm high, 750mm wide and 1300mm length

Proposed wording

14.1 It is expected any vehicle presented to the council to be licenced as a wheelchair accessible vehicle must meet the following space standards which are 1350mm high, 700mm wide, 1200mm long as stated within the Statutory Guidance document access to taxis and private hire vehicles for disabled users. Access to taxis and private hire vehicles for disabled users - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

14.2 It is the licence holder’s responsibility to ensure any vehicle meets this standard prior to purchase and presentation for licence.

The Licensing Manager asked the Licensing Committee to approve the following minor amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy:

• Colour of Private Hire Vehicles –

section 23.1 amend to read ‘No vehicle licensed as a Private Hire shall be coloured white (this is to avoid confusion with Hackney Carriages.) Any existing private hire vehicles which are white must be resprayed another colour by 31 December 2024’.

• Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles –

section 14.1 amend to read ‘It is expected any vehicle presented to the council to be licenced as a wheelchair accessible vehicle must meet the following space standards which are 1350mm high, 700mm wide, 1200mm long as stated within the Statutory Guidance document access to taxis and private hire vehicles for disabled users. Access to taxis and private hire vehicles for disabled users -GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).’

Section 14.2 amend to read ‘It is the licence holder’s responsibility to ensure any vehicle meets this standard prior to purchase and presentation for licence’.

RESOLVED that the Committee approve the proposed amendments, as stated, with the changes to wheelchair accessible vehicles to take place with immediate effect.

Voting: Unanimous

To consider, amend as required and approve the Committee’s forward plan of work.

The Licensing Manager took members through the committee’s forward plan, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'D' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.