Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of Licensing and Appeals Committee held on Tuesday, 17 June 2014.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Appeals Committee held on 17 June 2014 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive the Minutes of the following meetings of the Licensing and Appeals Committee sitting as a Panel:

1 July 2014

10 July 2014

30 July 2014

29 August 2014

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the meetings of the Licensing and Appeals Committee sitting as a Panel held on 1 July, 10 July, 30 July and 29 August 2014 be received and noted. 

The Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer reported that no returns had been received in respect of the consultation on proposed changes to the existing Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy which had been undertaken between 1 April and 16 May 2014.  He reminded Members that Appendix 1 of the current policy “Good Conduct for Licensed Drivers” had been rewritten to reflect the focus on the aspiration to achieve high level of customer service and expressed disappointment at the lack of response to the consultation.  The Committee noted that, if adopted at Council on 4 November 2014, the new Policy would come into effect on 1 December 2014. 

RECOMMENDED:  That the proposed changes to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, as set out at Annex 1 to the report, be approved.

*Referred to Council 

The report of the Director of Central Services and Monitoring Officer set out details of a proposal to adopt a new single consolidated set of model Byelaws for Hackney Carriages, produced by the Department for Transport (DfT), to regulate the conduct of Hackney Carriage Drivers.  He explained that any regulation of hackney carriage drivers must be secured through byelaws and that the latest set would bring the existing byelaws into line with changes in legislation and practice. 

RECOMMENDED:  That

(1)             the Council passes a resolution to adopt the model byelaws, as set out at Annex 1 to the report, for the regulation of Hackney Carriages in accordance with section 68 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and section 171 of the Public Health Act 1875;

(2)             the Director of Central Services be authorised to take all necessary steps to apply to the Department for Transport for confirmation; and

(3)             the model byelaws shall come into effect from the date on which the byelaws referred to above are confirmed by the Department for Transport and the current byelaws revoked.
*Referred to Council

The Chairman to move that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting during consideration of any items the publication of which would disclose exempt information.

There were no items considered in private.