Agenda and minutes

Cllr Glenys Maxwell declared a Non Disclosable Non Pecuniary Other Interest on Item 4.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 2 December 2015 were approved as a true record.

Members were told that the Council currently has in place several policy and guidance notes for the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Taxi industry. However, it does not have a single overarching policy, covering both of them as a whole. The report to Committee recommended that the Committee should now follow national best practice by agreeing a new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy for the District. This policy, it was explained, would apply to both new and existing drivers, vehicles and service operators. If agreed, the policy would be implemented from 17 October 2016.

The Committee was informed that there had been extensive consultation on the proposed new policy. A letter had been sent to all licensed drivers and private hire operators explaining the proposed policy and asking them for their views. The draft had also been placed on the Council’s web site. Members were told that four responses had been received. Three of these had been in writing. The fourth was an oral response. Members considered the responses, which were set out in the report. Several of the suggestions made by the respondents had been accepted and incorporated into the policy. Others had been rejected. The reasons why the suggestions had been accepted or rejected were discussed and supported by Members.

The Licensing Policy Officer, Peter Barrow, then explained in detail to the Committee what the new policy would cover and how it would differ from the existing policy framework. These changes, he stated, were set out in Section 3.9 of the report.

Members discussed the report and the proposed policy. During the discussion, they heard that as part of an ongoing inquest into a fatality by the Coroner all Nottinghamshire Hackney and Private Hire licensing authorities in the County had been asked to review their licensing policies and that as a consequence comparable reviews had or were taking place across Nottinghamshire. They also heard that the Coroner might make some specific recommendations to the authorities when the inquest concludes, which is expected to happen in October. 

The Committee welcomed the fact that policy reviews had taken place across the County and that there would be greater convergence between authorities, in terms of how they approached the licensing of Private Hire and Hackney Carriages, which would benefit both the public and the industry.

At the conclusion of the meeting the Members of the Committee made it clear that they all supported the new policy and agreed that it be adopted.

RESOLVED

a)    That the Licensing Committee approves the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and that the policy be implemented on 17 October 2016;

b)    That the Licensing Committee agrees that authority for the Policy be applied to both new and existing applicants of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers, Vehicles and Operators;

c)    That the Licensing Committee delegates authority to the Service Director, Places and Communities, to make any minor amendments to the Policy.

Reasons

To establish an overarching policy for the licensing of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.