Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

Apologies were received from Councillor Davidson (with no substitution).

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee, held on 8 March 2023.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on Wednesday 8 March 2023 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, Other Registerable Interests of Non-Registerable Interests, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

Councillor Smith declared for the public record that he was a London Taxi driver of 33 years’ experience but that he had no ties in that capacity to the District of Tendring.

Subject to providing two working days’ notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

On this occasion no Councillor had submitted notice of a question.

The Committee will formally receive and note, for its information only, the minutes of the meeting of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee held on Friday, 10 March 2023.

The Committee formally received and noted, for its information only, the Minutes of the meeting of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee held on Friday, 10 March 2023.

The Committee will formally receive and note, for its information only, the minutes of the Premises/Personal Licences Sub-Committee held on Friday, 10 March 2023.

The Committee formally received and noted, for its information only, the Minutes of the meeting of the Premises/Personal Sub-Committee held on Friday, 10 March 2023.

To provide the Licensing Committee with the details of the proposed licensing fees and charges for the new financial year beginning April 2023, with regard to Residential Park Homes.

The Committee was told that this was the first time that fees and charges had been in front of the Committee for the Licensing of Residential Parks (protected sites) and for charging fees as part of the Council’s inspection regime. Fees and charges for the work had previously been set as part of the corporate fees and charges procedure approved by Full Council, as part of the annual Budget process and in accordance with the Council’s Mobile Home Site Licensing Fees Policy.

Members heard that the current schedule of fees and charges was presented for approval along with the proposed fees and charges to take effect from 1 April 2023.

The Committee was informed that, as in previous years, Officers had reviewed the fees and charges payable for applications and, where a discretion existed, proposed that increases be approved to better reflect cost recovery in relation to the administration of the licensing areas concerned. The proposed fees and charges for 2023/24 along with the fees and charges for 2022/23 were set out within Appendix A of item A.4 of the Report of the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery).

It was moved by Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Wiggins and:-

RESOLVED that:

1)    the current fees and charges in place since April 2022, as set out in column A of Appendix A to item A.4 of the Report of the Corporate Director (Operations & Delivery), be endorsed and approved;

2)    that the proposed fees and charges for 2023/24, as set out in column B of the aforesaid Appendix A be approved with effect from April 2023; and,

3)    the Assistant Director (Housing and Environment) be authorised to publish The Mobile Homes (Residential Protected Sites) fees and charges in accordance with the relevant legislative provisions.

To provide the Committee with data on the number of licences, certificates and permits authorised by the Council in quarter 1 2023/24. 

To provide the Committee with details of licensing policies that are in place or are proposed with intended development/review time frames.

The Committee had a report before it that sought to provide data on the number of licences, certificates and permits that had been authorised by the Council in quarter 1 2023/24. The majority of those had been authorised by Officers in accordance with approved schemes of delegation. Data was provided to the Committee on the most recent completed quarters (April to June, July to September, October to December and January to March) together with previous quarters to help aid comparison between quarters and years.

Members were given details of the number of licences, certificates, and permits within the responsibility of Democratic Services and Elections that had been granted as set out under the separate headings below:

(i)             Licensing Act 2003 - Premises Licences/Club Premises Certificates

The total of Premises Licences / Club Premises Certificates that had been approved under Delegated Powers during the period as detailed below.  For comparison, the following also showed the numbers approved for the periods shown:

(ii)            Personal Licences under the Licensing Act 2003

The total of Personal Licences approved under Delegated Powers since 7 February 2005, the 'First Appointed Day' on the dates shown were:-

(iii)           Gambling Act 2005 - Gambling Licences/Permits

Below was a table showing the number of gambling licences and permits that were licensed with this Authority on the dates shown.

(iv)           Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 -
Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Licence

Below was a table showing the number of drivers, vehicles and operators that were licensed with this Authority on the dates shown.

Although the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To submit to the Committee the draft Taxi / Private Hire Policy, and to seek authority for the draft policy to be circulated to key stakeholders and interested parties for consultation purposes.

The Committee had before it a draft Taxi/Private Hire Policy (at Appendix A to this report) and which sought authority for the draft policy to be circulated to key stakeholders and interested parties for consultation purpose.

The Committee was reminded that, at its meeting on 08 March 2023 (minute 142 referred), it had authorised Officers to develop a draft comprehensive policy in relation to the licensing of Taxi and Private Hire Services in the District. The initial element of the work was to consider the Department for Transport’s best practice guide to Councils in respect of this area of licensing; the 2022 consultation draft on an updated practice guide and any amendments the Committee had suggested at the 8 March 2023 meeting. The Committee on 8 March 2023 had considered comments that had been received to an initial consultation exercise undertaken between December 2022 to February 2023.

Members heard that it had been reported to the meeting of the Committee on 8 March 2023 that a key impetus towards the development of a cohesive licensing policy in that area had been the statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards, issued by Government in July 2020. By virtue of Section 177(4) of the Policing and Crime Act 2017, licensing authorities must have regard to the standards issued by Government, and the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022.

The Committee also heard that, in referencing licensing policies for Taxi and Private Hire Services, in the statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle standards, it read:

“The Department recommends all licensing authorities make publicly available a cohesive policy document that brings together all their procedures on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.  This should  include  but  not  be  limited  to  policies  on  convictions,  a  ‘fit  and proper’ person test, licence conditions and vehicle standards.

When formulating a taxi and private hire vehicle policy, the primary and overriding objective must be to protect the public.  The importance of ensuring that the licensing regime protects the vulnerable cannot be overestimated.  This was highlighted in the report by Dame Louise Casey CB of February 2015 on safeguarding failings.”

Members discussed and decided on the following matters:-

Vehicle Licensing

Identity and Signage – Livery - was agreed to consult on whether to introduce a corporate livery colour of green (whether sprayed on or wrapped on) with the livery to be introduced at the next replacement of the individual Hackney Carriage Vehicles.

Accessibility

It was agreed to maintain the present requirements.

Enforcement and Compliance:

It was agreed to consult on moving to a points-based enforcement system.

It was moved by Councillor Casey, seconded by Councillor Thompson and:-

RESOLVED that the draft Taxi/Private Hire Policy be circulated to the Council’s stakeholders and interested parties in respect of this area of licensing for consultation purposes, including the questions relating to livery and the introduction of a points-based enforcement system, and that the outcome of the consultation be considered at a future meeting of the Committee prior  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To inform Members of the Licensing and Registration Committee about the Tendring Community Safety action days that took place which involved a number of licensing enforcement checks.

The Committee was informed about the Tendring Community Safety action days that had taken place which had involved a number of licensing enforcement checks.

The Committee was told that members of the Licensing Team had joined forces with partners for a number of activities aimed at improving safety in Tendring.

Members were also informed that, on Wednesday 14 June 2023, the Licensing Officers had been in attendance with Essex Police road policing officers and the Environmental Agency for a series of road checks, clamping down on motoring offences, checking that waste carriers and scrap metal carriers had the appropriate licences, and had carried out spot checks on taxis.

The taxi spot checks had been carried out on 19 taxis, with three warning letters issued and one referral made.

The Committee heard that, on Friday 16 June 2023, the Licensing Enforcement Officer had attended an evening of action tackling the night time economy with a number of partners. As part of this, checks had been carried out at licensed premises and taxis to make sure all were operating safely and legally. One premises had been referred for further enforcement action and one taxi had been found with an expired plate and this had been removed and the taxi taken off the road.

Members were also told that awareness of drink spiking had been raised with 100 drink covers given to pubs to hand out to their customers.

The Committee was assured that those that had received warning letters had received a follow up by the Licensing Enforcement Officer and that all matters had been satisfactorily resolved.

The Committee NOTED the contents of this report.

The Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution:-

“that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 12 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.”

It was moved by Councillor J Henderson, seconded by Councillor Wiggins and:-

RESOLVED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of Agenda Item 12 on the grounds that it involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A, as amended, of the Act.

The Committee will formally receive and note, for its information only, the exempt minutes of the meeting of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee held on Friday, 10 March 2023.

The Committee formally received and noted, for its information only, the exempt minutes of the meeting of the Miscellaneous Licensing Sub-Committee held on Friday, 10 March 2023.