Agenda and minutes

Venue: North Warehouse, The Docks, Gloucester, GL1 2EP

Contact: Democratic and Electoral Services 

Items
No. Item

1.

Declarations of Interest

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

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 19th January, 2023.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 19th January, 2023 were confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

3.

Minutes of Licensing Sub-Committees

Minutes:

There were no minutes of Licensing Sub-Committees to note.

4.

Public Question Time (15 minutes)

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.

 

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12pm on Thursday 8 June 2023 or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

Minutes:

There were no public questions.

5.

Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes, maximum 3 minutes per person)

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. To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Thursday 8 June 2023.

Minutes:

There were no petitions nor deputations.

6.

Proposed Revised Draft Conditions for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing pdf icon PDF 136 KB

To receive the report of the Director of Communities. The purpose of the report is to seek the Licensing and Enforcement Committee’s approval to consult on the draft revised conditions for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

6.1          The Licensing Team Leader presented the report of the Director of Communities. The purpose of the report was to seek the Licensing and Enforcement Committee’s approval to consult on the draft revised conditions for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing.

 

6.2          Councillor Radley noted that it could be difficult to hire a wheelchair accessible Private Hire vehicle or Hackney Carriage. She noted that the report highlighted that there was a specific wheelchair accessible driving test a private hire or hackney carriage driver could take. She asked for further detail on the test.In response, the Licensing Team Leader stated that a wheelchair assessment test was an additional test drivers could take specifically for working with wheelchair users in addition to the Driving Assessment for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire that they needed to take and this is a one off test.

 

6.3          Councillor Tracey asked how many Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles were wheelchair accessible currently. In response, the Licensing Team Leader stated that there were 5 wheelchair accessible Hackney Carriage vehicles and 3 Private Hire wheelchair accessible vehicles.

 

6.4          Councillor Chambers-Dubus asked why it was not mandatory to take the additional wheelchair accessibility test for drivers. In answer to the question, the Licensing Team Leader replied that it was not a condition that drivers took on a regular basis and this is not something that officers had put forward yet. He said that he would take the point raised by Councillor Chambers-Dubus to the trade for their views.

 

6.5          Councillor Patel pointed to paragraph 3.32 of the Council report. He asked for clarification as to how long Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV’s) would have from the date of their first registration before they will not be relicensed. In response, the Licensing Team Leader said that the proposal was for WAV’s to be exempt from the 10-year rule and the Euro 6 requirement and for WAV vehicles to be allowed up to 15 years before the licence would not be renewed.

 

6.6          Councillor Patel stated that he believed in the current economic climate, 10 years before having to replace a vehicle might be difficult for a driver to afford. He further added that Tewkesbury Borough Council had different requirements so a driver may move from Gloucester to Tewkesbury. The Licensing Team leader replied that Tewkesbury had put a policy recommendation in place that would bring their conditions further in line with the other councils in the County (Stroud, Cheltenham, and Gloucester). The Senior Lawyer added that the proposal to bring these conditions closer to the other local councils was going to Tewkesbury’s Licensing Committee on the 15th June 2023. The Licensing Team Leader also noted that Tewkesbury were proposing that non WAV vehicles must be Euro 6 compliant to bring them in line with other authorities. He stated that the proposals to exempt WAVs from the Euro 6 and 10 year requirement was because these vehicles were difficult to source and costly. He added that the Council wished  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Quarterly Update pdf icon PDF 121 KB

To receive the report of the Director of Communities which outlines to members details of key Licensing Activities carried out from 1 March 2023 to  31 May 2023, including applications and service requests received, details of any enforcement work, progress updates of the work plan and any changes in Licensing Law.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

7.1          The Licensing Team Leader enquired as to whether any members’ had any questions on the content of the report.

 

7.2          Councillor Patel asked whether the Licensing department sent out plate renewal reminders. In response, the Licensing Team Leader stated that they did before the Cyber Incident.

 

7.3          Councillor Patel asked whether the Licensing Team sent out templated messages to drivers making them aware of their requirement to renew. In response, the Licensing Team Leader stated that this was the case and that drivers received text messages. He added that the word had spread that drivers who did not renew their plates on time, would not be allowed to drive. He also stated that the authority conducted a DVLA check on drivers so that if they had been caught speeding, they would not be allowed to have a licence.

 

7.4          Councillor Bowkett noted that he commended the Licensing Team for conducting out of hours enforcement.

 

7.5          Councillor Tracey pointed to paragraph 4.10 of the report (Animal Licensing). She noted that she had seen horses that had faced mistreatment and questioned what avenues of action she could take. The Senior Lawyer and the Licensing Team Leader informed her that the best course of action was to contact Community Wellbeing, the Police or the RSPCA.

 

7.6           RESOLVED that the Licensing and Enforcement Committee note the content of the report.

 

8.

Exclusion of Press and Public

To consider the following resolution should members wish to discuss agenda item 10.

“That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the following item of business on the grounds that it is likely, in view of the nature of proceeding, that if members of the press or public are present during consideration of this item there will be disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1, 2, 3 & 7 of Part 1 of Schedule12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended.”

Minutes:

No Member indicated that they wished to discuss the content of the exempt minutes. Therefore, it was not necessary to exclude the press and public.

9.

Exempt Minutes of Licensing and Enforcement Sub-Committees

To receive the exempt minutes of the following meetings of the Licensing and Enforcement Sub-Committee, if members decide they wish to discuss them:

 

-       9th February 2023

-       10th May, 2023

Minutes:

RESOLVED as per the exempt minutes.

10.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday, 12 September at 6.30 p.m.

Minutes:

Tuesday, 12th September at 6.30 p.m.