Meeting documentation

Meeting documents

Licensing Committee
Wednesday, 2nd June, 2010 6.30 pm

ItemDescriptionResolution
Declaration of interests - members are reminded that following the adoption by Council of the new Code of Conduct, any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the new code. In particular, members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'personal' or 'prejudicial'.

The Monitoring Officer would like to remind members that when they are considering whether the following items are exempt information under the relevant paragraph under part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 they must have regard to the public interest test. This means that members must consider, for each item, whether the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure outweighs the public interest in making the item available to the public.
1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors C Meynell, P Purver and R Woodward.
 
2 DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
There were no declarations of interests.
 
3 MINUTES
Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday, 27th January, 2010
RESOLVED THAT:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 27 January 2010 be approved as a correct record.
4 REVIEW OF THE DRIVING STANDARDS AGENCY ASSESSMENT ELEMENT OF THE HACKNEY CARRIAGE AND PRIVATE HIRE DRIVERS 'FIT AND PROPER PERSON' POLICY
The Commercial Services Manager presented the report to Members.

A Member expressed concerns regarding the proposed extension to the deadline for passing the DSA test. He stressed that the safety of the public was paramount and he felt the 1st July deadline should be maintained.

The Commercial Services Manager drew Members attention to the current pass rates and explained that if the current deadline remained, by the end of July approximately 200 drivers would not have successfully completed the assessment. This decision would mainly affect the licences that expire in July and August.

In response to a question from a Member, the Commercial Services Manager stated that the drivers would be made aware of any changes agreed at the meeting by a letter to all and information posted on the Council's website.

A Member suggested that drivers should at least make sure the test was booked before the 1st July even if the test date was not until later in the year. He also stated he was not happy with the recommended extension until 31st December and proposed it be amended to 1st October. Members agreed.

The Commercial Services Manager confirmed that the drivers had been informed about the requirement to take the DSA test at the end of 2008, which had given them 18 months to take and pass the test.


RESOLVED THAT:

a) The requirement for all licensed drivers of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles to take and pass the Driving Standards Agency test by 1 July 2010, be amended by extending the date to 1 October 2010.

b) Issue five of the Council's Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Driver 'Fit and Proper Person' Policy be approved with affect from 3 June 2010.
5 INTRODUCTION OF CHARITABLE COLLECTIONS POLICY
The Licensing Enforcement Officer presented the report to Members.

In response to a question from a Member, the Licensing Enforcement Officer explained that the policy would be enforced by requesting the organisations to produce confirmation of the returns, this would include bank account statements to show the transfer of money.

A discussion was had regarding whether the proposed figure of 75 percent of earnings to be donated to a charity by organisations as a requirement of the policy was appropriate. The Licensing Enforcement Officer confirmed that the proposed figure was the average according to research of other authorities and at present the majority of organisations that already hold a licence donate a higher percentage. The policy was aimed at a minority of organisations who are collecting for profit more than for charity.

RESOLVED THAT:

The Charitable Collections Policy be approved.
Published on Friday, 25th June, 2010
The meeting closed at 7.17pm.

Attendance Details

Present:
Councillor N Smith (Chairman) (In the Chair)

Councillors G Allman, C Bowley, D Everitt, P Holland, G Partner, E J Purver and C Timmis.

Officers: Mr D Gill, Miss R Levy, Mr L Mansfield, Miss E McHugh and Mrs S Roberts.