Agenda and minutes

Venue: North Warehouse, The Docks, Gloucester

Contact: Sonia Tucker  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

24.

Declarations of Interest

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item. Please see Agenda Notes.

Minutes:

No declarations were made on this occasion.

25.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 148 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2015.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2015 were confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record subject to the following addition:-

 

Minute 19     Public Question Time

 

The Chair advised the member of the public to submit his question in writing and he would receive a written response.

26.

Public Question Time

To receive any questions from members of the public provided that a question does not relate to:

 

·         Matters which are the subject of current or pending legal proceedings, or

·         Matters relating to employees or former employees of the Council or comments in respect of individual Council Officers

Minutes:

There were no questions from members of the public.

27.

Petitions and Deputations

To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition or deputation is in relation to:

 

·         Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or

·         Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings

Minutes:

There were no petitions or deputations.

28.

Fees for Vehicles, Operators and Drivers' Licences 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 260 KB

To consider the report of the Head of Public Protection which seeks approval to publish fees for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licences to take effect from 1 May 2016.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Food, Licensing and Markets Manager presented the report which sought to determine the level of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licence fees for 2016/17 following a consultation period of 28 days and advertisement of the Council’s intentions in the local press.

 

Three objections had been received which were detailed at paragraphs 3.10 – 3.12 of the report and attached at Appendix 2.

 

Members noted the objections and referred to Appendix 5 which contained a breakdown of the service costs over a number of years.

 

Several Members expressed concern at the fluctuations in the level of the internal recharges.

 

Councillor Llewellyn believed that the report should be deferred to await more detailed information and an explanation of the fluctuations in the service costs from a finance officer.

 

She believed that Members needed that information to deal with any challenge to the proposed increase.

 

RESOLVED that consideration of the report be deferred to a special meeting to await further information on service costs.

29.

Members' Update for Licensing and Enforcement Committee pdf icon PDF 311 KB

To receive the report of the Corporate Director which outlines to Members details of key Licensing Activities carried out in the last quarter (October to December 2015), including applications and service requests received, details of any enforcement work, progress updates of our work plan and any changes in Licensing Law. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Food, Licensing and Markets Manager presented the report which detailed key licensing activities carried out in the quarter October – December 2015 including applications and service requests received, details of any enforcement work and progress updates on the work plan.

 

She noted that a recent court case would be reported in the next quarterly update.

 

She drew Members’ attention to the taxi and private hire enforcement work detailed at paragraph 4.7 of the report and noted the increase in enforcement work undertaken by the team since an additional Licensing and Enforcement Officer dedicated to enforcement work had been employed.

 

Members noted the success of the Gloucester City Best Bar None scheme in winning the Best New Scheme for 2015 category in the National Best Bar None Awards.

 

The Food, Licensing and Markets Manager advised that discussions were continuing with the Police regarding the introduction of a Late Night Levy in Gloucester. The levy would be subject to consultation and would be imposed on licensed premises open between midnight and 6.00 am. The Police would receive 70 per cent of the levy which had to be spent on measures to address crime and disorder which could include initiatives such as taxi marshals and pedestrianisation schemes.

 

There would be powers to exempt premises, for example for premises in a Business Improvement District, and the Late Night Levy would not apply to takeaways.

 

Councillor Brown was advised that the Taxi Marshal scheme had been funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner at an annual cost of £9,000.

 

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

 

 

30.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday, 7 June 2016 at 6.30 p.m.

Minutes:

Next scheduled meeting – Tuesday, 7 June 2016