Agenda and minutes

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 interest.

To confirm the minutes of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee meeting held on 12 March 2015 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee meeting held on 12 March 2015 be confirmed as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the General Licensing Sub Committee’s held on 1 April and 27 May 2015 be confirmed as a correct record.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Licensing Act 2003 Sub Committee’s held on 23 March and 11 June 2015 be held as a correct record.

To note the minutes of the Licensing Liaison Panel meeting held on 15 June 2015 (enclosed)

Councillor John Walker asked the Chair why the Executive Member for Public Protection had chaired the last meeting of the Licensing Liaison Panel as it was usual practice for the Chair and Vice Chair of Licensing to attend the meetings and undertake this role.

The Chair and Vice Chair of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee were both appointed at the Annual Council in May so any change would have to be agreed at Council.

RESOLVED – That Democratic Services look into why this change has been made.

Report of the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community (enclosed)

Background Report that was approved at Licensing and Public Safety Committee on 11 March 2009:  Scheme of Delegation 2009

The Committee received a report that sought to review the scheme of delegation to allow the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community to make the decision to refuse private hire and hackney carriage vehicle renewals or grant applications for new vehicle licences in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair of Licensing and Public Safety Committee.

The current scheme of delegation was agreed in March 2009 and at present, the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community does not have delegated authority to refuse the granting of either a new vehicle licence or the renewal of an existing vehicle licence. A recent case where a hackney carriage had been presented for renewal and found not to comply with the Council’s Vehicle Conditions had highlighted a need for this to be amended.

It was not considered that such cases are best brought in front of members and that renewals if granted are turned around in a fairly short period of time. The above example is a decision that is primarily a technical one based on vehicle safety and passenger comfort and does not require discretion on the part of the members unlike when considering if a driver is a fit and proper person in light of previous convictions or behaviour. The deferment of any such decision until a Sub Committee can be arranged was not thought to be an efficient way of determining applications either for the trade or the Council.

The report also sought to amend the scheme of delegation to allow officers to revoke a Gambling Premises Licence and the cancellation of licensed premises gaming machine permits issued under the Gambling Act 2005 in respect of the non-payment of an annual fee. This too would need a decision of the full Council in respect of an amendment to the Constitution.

Members noted that Section 193 of the Gambling Act 2005 limits any discretion or decision making for the Licensing Authority in its approach to administering the provision of the Act in this regard, save any administrative error associated with the non-payment of the fee. If the annual fee has not been paid then under the Gambling Act 2005 the licence must be revoked.

The amendment to the scheme of delegation would allow such matters to be dealt with expeditiously and will promote efficient use of both officer and member time.

RESOLVED

That the Licensing and Public Safety Committee recommends to full Council to authorise the Head of Governance and Property Services to amend the current scheme of delegation to allow the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community to make the decision to refuse private hire and hackney carriage vehicle renewals and to refuse to grant applications for new licences in consultation with the Chair/Vice Chair of Licensing and Public Safety Committee.

That the cut-off point for receipt of an application to renew a taxi vehicle licence will be at close of business before the licence expires.

That the Licensing and Public Safety Committee recommends to full Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.LPS.13

Report of the Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community (enclosed)

The Director of Public Protection, Streetscene and Community submitted a report advising Members of the Council’s responsibility to review the quantity control policy that currently limits the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences that the authority issues.

The Council currently has a policy limiting the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences it issues to 36, including provision for 9 wheelchair accessible vehicles.

The Council are not obliged to maintain a limited number of hackney carriage licences and may determine that the maintenance of the limit is not in the public interest in serving the transport needs of the borough and does not provide an adequate level of service for residents and visitors to the area.

However, where a limit exists and the Council wishes to maintain that limit, the Council has to be satisfied that there is no significant unmet demand.

Establishing unmet demand can be achieved by way of a survey of the hackney carriage provision within the borough of Chorley, examining by way of a series of observations of taxi rank activity and by issuing direct and in-direct questionnaires to interested parties including the general public. The Council may commission such a survey and recover the costs from the trade.

Should Members decide not to commission the unmet demand survey then the Council would over time lack recent data to justify not delimiting numbers. In this instance the Council would not be in a position to refuse the granting of an application for a hackney carriage vehicle licence without being exposed to possible legal challenge.

Members were informed that the Law Commission has recently conducted a wholesale review of taxi provision and surrounding legislation. Although it was anticipated that the recommendations would have found their way to statute by this time, this was not the case, and as yet, although considered that they would be implemented within this Parliamentary term, local authorities have not been advised on when these recommendations will become legislation.

The results and recommendations to Government have however now been made public and the document titled Taxi and Private Hire Services May 2014 was contained within the report for information. The Committee’s attention was drawn to those chapters which discussed and set out the proposals in relation to Local Authorities ability to limiting the numbers of Hackney Carriage Vehicle’s and Accessibility for all. The Law Commission’s report has been accepted by Government.

Should these provisions become legislation the Council would be obliged to review its policy in relation to limiting the number of HCV licences it will issue, having regard to a public interest only.

As the Law Commission’s report was expected to be implemented within the forthcoming Parliamentary term, the Committee considered that it would be  appropriate at this time to undertake a wider public interest test, to establish the extend of need across all genres of the community and the borough. As advised by officers, this may also include an unmet survey demand but would be dependent on cost.

It was proposed by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.LPS.14