Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members, declarations as to personal and/or prejudicial interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Notes 1 and 2 overleaf.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 18^th October 2011.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18^th October 2011 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 8^th November 2011 and 1^st December 2011.

The minutes of the two meetings held on 8^th November 2011 and 1^st December 2011 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To receive any questions from members of the public.

There were no questions from members of the public.

To receive any petitions and deputations.

There were no petitions or deputations.

Report by the Group Manager, Environmental Health and Regulatory Services.

The Chair outlined the procedure for consideration of the application.

The Council’s Case

The Licensing and Enforcement Officer outlined the appeal by Mr Aderito Queiros Balde, a licensed Private Hire driver with Gloucester City Council, against an officer decision to refuse to issue a new Private Hire vehicle licence for a Chrysler Grand Voyager registration number DV55 ZPM, on the grounds that it did not meet the age specification required by the Council’s policy on the age of vehicles.  Mr Balde was also the owner of a licensed Private Hire vehicle, a wheelchair accessible Peugeot Expert plate number 106 (PHV106) with an expiry date of 19^th February 2012.

DV55 ZPM was first registered with the DVLA on 31^st January 2006.  Mr Balde submitted a request to licence this additional vehicle on 7^th November 2011.  This meant that from receipt of the initial request the vehicle failed to meet the Council’s age policy by nine months and six days.

Members inspected the car and noted it had passed the MOT and the Council’s own inspection check.  All necessary documentation had been provided by Mr Balde, with the exception of a certificate of insurance for hire and reward which would need to be obtained, should the Committee be minded to approve the application.

Committee was advised that the City Council was empowered under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 to licence private hire vehicles and to apply conditions to the issue of such licences.

Council policy for the first time of licensing a private hire vehicle which came into effect on 1^st June 2010 stipulated ‘vehicles will not be accepted for licensing on the first occasion after 5 years from the date of first registration, regardless of whether it was previously licensed anywhere else in the UK, or re-licensed 10 years from the date of first registration’.

The Licensing and Enforcement Officer reminded Members that in May 2003, the Council’s General Conditions for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing contained the wording ‘will not normally be accepted’ in place of the above, thus allowing Officer and Member discretion when deciding the merits of an individual case.  It was noted that at present, the discretion rested only with Members to exempt vehicles from Council policy on an individual merits basis.

Members were advised that they had two options:-

(a)      To refuse the application on the grounds that the vehicle fell outside of Council policy on the age of vehicles that can be accepted for licensing on the first occasion.

Or

(b)      To accept the application on the grounds that the vehicle was of such a high standard for its age, that Council policy should be departed from in this particular case.

Questions to the Licensing and Enforcement Officer

Mr Taylor, representing Mr Balde, indicated that he had no questions to ask of the Licensing and Enforcement Officer

A Member asked for clarification on the exact number of months and days by which the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Report by the Group Manager, Environmental Health and Regulatory Services.

Members were presented with an update on key licensing activities carried out in the last quarter of the year, including feedback on appeal cases heard by the Magistrates’ Court against decisions made by the Licensing and Enforcement Committee.  The report also detailed future work from January 2012 to December 2014. The information was provided for Members’ information with no decisions being required.

Members were interested to note that following discussion on the licensing of pedicabs at the meeting on 18^th October, 2011, that further work had taken place which had led to the Licensing and Enforcement team investigating the trialling of the Pedicab business in the Docks area of the City without the need for a Hackney Carriage licence, pending the drafting of a Policy for the licensing of Pedicabs.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to the section of the report relating to a change to the taxi tariff rates.  Following publication of this information, one objection had been received from The Trade before the close of the consultation period on 11^th December 2011.  Members were advised that it might be necessary to hold a Special Licensing and Enforcement Committee in January 2012 unless agreement could be reached with all parties beforehand.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

Tuesday, 13^th March 2012 at 18.30 hours.

Members were advised that a Special Meeting would need to be called on either 17^th or 24^th January 2012 at 18.30 hours to deal with the proposed changes to the taxi tariff.

The next scheduled Committee after that date was 13^th March 2012 at 18.30 hours.