Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Matthew Crow and Graham Dunn.

To confirm the minutes of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee held on 12 December 2013 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee held on 12 December 2012 be confirmed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of any interests.

To confirm the minutes of the Licensing Act 2003 Sub-Committee held on 14 January 2013 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Licensing Act 2003 Sub Committee held on 14 January 2013 be held as a correct record.

To confirm the minutes of the General Licensing Sub Committee held on 6 February 2013 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the General Licensing Sub Committee held on 6 February 2013 be held as a correct record.

Report of the Director of People and Places (enclosed)

The Committee received a report of the Director of People and Places to highlight concerns that had been raised by the taxi trade relating to a long standing condition on Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicle licences which require the DVLA V5 vehicle registration process for a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licence. The condition relates to the documentation that is required to be produced to the Council in order to progress a licence application.

When a vehicle is purchased and in particular second hand vehicles, the V5 ‘log book’ is sent away by the vehicle vendor to the DVLA and the new owner of the vehicle receives a handwritten slip containing their name and address which links them by a serial number to the old V5 registration document in the possession of the vendor or in transit to the DVLA. This slip is effectively a receipt for the full V5 document should a new version not be forthcoming from the DVLA. It was the opinion of officers that the slip is not a replacement for the full V5 ‘log book’ and they were looking to amend the present condition to this effect.

The DVLA service standards indicate that over 97% of V5 documents are issued within 14 days of receipt from the vehicle vendor which can amount to a possible 2 to 3 week delay in the new owner receiving the ‘log book’. Therefore whilst the Council can process any application for a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licence, the licence cannot be issued until the V5 document has been presented and is in order.

Representation from the taxi trade highlighted instances whereby it had taken around 5 to 6 weeks for the ‘log book’ to be issued and that a driver could only contact the DVLA regarding progress after a two week period. This could potentially mean a considerable loss of earnings for a driver.

After careful consideration of the option available it was proposed by Councillor Marion Lowe, seconded by Councillor Jean Cronshaw and subsequently RESOLVED that a licence will be issued upon the production of the relevant documentation and that the applicant will provide the relevant V5 document within six weeks, from the date of the application and that all associated administrative costs be passed on to the driver through the relevant fees.