Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Councillors.

Apologies were received from Cllr S Anderson, Cllr J Bagwell, Cllr B Dion, Cllr D Farr, Cllr M Howell and Cllr K Wilson.

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 substitutes members for this meeting.

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 meetings held on 8 December 2022 and 26 January 2023 and the Licensing Sub Committee meetings held on 24 November 2022, 7 and 21 December 2022, 18 January 2023 and 1 and 9 February 2023.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee meetings held on 8 December 2022 and 26 January 2023 and the Licensing Sub Committee meetings held on 24 November 2022, 7 and 21 December 2022, 18 January 2023 and 1 and 9 February 2023, be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct 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 4 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.

The Chair welcomed Mr David Lane, Mr Paul Sondheim and Mr Monty Talbi, representatives of the BCP Taxi and Private Hire Trade Association, who were in attendance for Agenda item 7.

At the Committee meeting on 10 March 2022 the Taxi Trade raised a question about whether the level of provision and location of hackney carriage ranks was meeting current need.

Subsequently officers and members of the BCP Taxi Trade worked together to undertake an audit of all the ranks. Together all ranks were visited and any defects or suggestions for improvement was noted.

The provision of ranks is provided by the Highways team and following this audit the findings have been fed back to Highways for them to programme any necessary works.

The Interim 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 report had been prepared in response to a question raised by the Taxi Trade at a previous meeting of the Committee about whether the level of provision and location of hackney carriage ranks was meeting current need. Subsequently officers and members of the BCP Taxi Trade had worked together to undertake an audit of all the ranks, the results of which were set out in the report for consideration. The Chair thanked members of the Trade for their input into this exercise.

The Committee noted that there was no apparent structure or timetable for the completion of works summarised in paragraph 4 of the report and that this was dependent on the Highways team to prioritise on a case-by-case basis. In order to address these concerns Members agreed that the Committee should review progress in six months. To provide added impetus the Chair agreed to write to the relevant Director on behalf of the Committee to advise of the review and request a copy of the schedule of works.

The Committee also discussed the issue of parking by non-licenced vehicles on ranks, as highlighted in paragraph 5 of the report. Members were advised that in such cases a referral was made to parking enforcement for action and that this could only be addressed when someone was ‘caught in the act’. It was noted that signage on the ranks was clear. Members were advised that a parking enforcement officer had attended a recent Taxi trade liaison meeting where a request had been made for the team to check ranks when doing their rounds. In order to address these concerns Members agreed that the Chair should write to the relevant Director to ask that the problem of parking by non licensed vehicles on ranks be prioritised for enforcement and to request the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued in these circumstances over the last year.

Members thanked the Trade, Highways and Licensing teams for the current provision of ranks which it was noted was better than many other areas.

RESOLVED:

(a)  that the Committee notes the contents of the report and requests a further report in six months’ time to review the progress of the Highways team in programming the necessary works summarised in paragraph 4 of the report, following the audit of all taxi ranks in the BCP area;

(b)  that the Chair writes to the Director of Infrastructure at the Committee’s request to advise that the Committee has asked for a six-month review and to advise of the Committee’s views around the need for a structured and timely delivery of these works and to request that a proposed schedule of works be provided;

(c)  that the Chair writes to the Director of Infrastructure at the Committee’s request to advise of the Committee’s views around the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

The BCP Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy was implemented on the 1 June 2021.  This replaced the three polices of the previous legacy authorities.

The BCP Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Trade Association (BCP Trade) have made a request to amend the current BCP Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy 2021 in respect to

·       increasing the initial maximum licensable age of non-wheelchair accessible vehicles which is currently 3.5 years.

·       delay the date that all vehicles must meet the Euro 6 emission standard which is currently 31 December 2023.

The Interim Head of Safer Communities 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 purpose of the report was for the Licensing Committee to consider a request from the BCP Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Trade Association to amend the current BCP Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy 2021.

The Chair invited Mr David Lane to address the Committee on behalf of the Trade. Mr Lane explained the reasons for the Trade’s request as set out in the letter circulated at Appendix 1 of the report. In summary the Trade was proposing an amendment to increase the age of non-wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) at first licence for 3.5 years to 4.5 years to match the current WAV requirements. It was further proposing an amendment to the date by which all vehicles licenced by the Council would meet the Euro 6 emission standard from 31 December 2023 to either 31 August 2025 or 31 December 2024, the latter being same date for compliance with the new livery requirement.

The Committee noted that it had considered and rejected the Trade’s request to put back the Euro 6 deadline to December 2024 when last proposed in March 2022. Members had agreed at that time that the Euro 6 requirement needed to progress in line with the timescales agreed when the Policy was adopted. Having considered the request anew, Members saw no reason to change this stance and felt that it would be a retrograde step particularly in light of the Council’s declared climate and ecological emergency. It was noted that currently 30% of the fleet did not comply with Euro 6 and that there were now few vehicles licensed before the Policy came into effect affected by the livery requirement.

The Committee discussed whether maximum mileage when first licensed might be a more pertinent criteria than a vehicle’s age. The Interim Head of Safer Communities advised that this issue could be explored but would require further input from the Trade and any change would need to include WAVs. It was noted that any significant changes to the Policy would require a full report and period of consultation. Members also commented on the need to encourage more WAVs in the fleet, something which the Committee’s working party was seeking to address.

In conclusion the Committee did not consider any changes should be made to the Policy at the present time. The Committee agreed that the issues raised around the age and mileage of vehicles warranted a more in depth review and the Interim Head of Safer Communities advised that this could be taken forward initially by a discussion with the Trade before coming back to Committee.

RESOLVED that having considered the request for amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy the Committee agrees that no changes be made at the present time and that the policy is left  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

To consider, update as required and agree the Committee’s Forward Plan.

The Chair referred to the Committee’s current plan of work, 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 and advised Members to contact the Interim Head of Safer Communities with any additional items for consideration.

The Legal Advisor responded to questions regarding the outcome of the judicial review of the Council’s Sex Establishment Policy. She explained that a Local Authority did not need to have such a Policy and that now the Policy had been quashed any licensing applications received would be determined solely in accordance with the provisions contained in schedule 3 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982. Paragraphs 10-12 of schedule 3 of the Act set out the process for applying for and determining an application for a sex establishment, including listing the specific grounds on which a licence could be refused. There was also information on the Licensing pages on the Council’s website.

Any decision on whether or not to adopt a new policy would need to be considered by the Council’s Administration following the Local Government Elections on 4 May 2023 and if and when appropriate could be added to the forward plan of the Licensing Committee. Any applications due to be determined in the pre-election period would be held over until after the elections including any renewal applications. Providing an application for renewal is made before the existing licence expires, the existing licence will continue until the application for renewal is determined.

In closing the meeting, it being the last scheduled Committee before the May Elections, the Chair thanked all members of the Committee and officers for their work over the last term.