Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies and details of any substitutions.

To note any changes to Committee membership.

Apologies were received from Councillors Trevor Carbin, Jim Lynch, Pip Ridout and Ian Thorn.

Councillor Atiqul Hoque was substituting for Councillor Pip Ridout.

Following the annual meeting of Council the following changes to the members of the Committee were noted:

Councillor John Smale off – Councillor Peter Evans on.

Councillor Atiqul hoque on as substitute Member, Councillor James Sheppard off as substitute Member.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2019 (copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2019 were presented to the Committee.

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 March 2019 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Chairman, Councillor Peter Hutton made the following announcements:

Thank you to all Members for their attendance at recent Sub Committee hearings.  Two review hearings had resulted in Premises Licences being revoked by the Sub Committee.

You are all aware that a training session for Members is planned to follow this meeting.  For clarity, the training will become the new Agenda item 8 so that the details of what training was presented is noted in the minutes.

To receive any declarations of disclosable interests or dispensations granted by the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item. Please contact the officer named on the front of the agenda for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution.

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Friday 24 May in order to be guaranteed of a written response. In order to receive a verbal response questions must be submitted no later than 5pm on Wednesday 29 May. Please contact the officer named on the front of this agenda for further advice. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

No questions had been submitted to the Committee from the public prior to the meeting and no press or public were present at the meeting.

To receive and sign the minutes of the following Licensing Sub Committee:

Western Area

16/04/19       Application for a Variation to a Club Premises Certificate – Westbury Conservative Club, Alfred Street, Westbury

Western Area

16/04/19       Application for a Variation to a Club Premises Certificate – Westbury Conservative Club, Alfred Street, Westbury

Resolved:

That the Minutes of the meeting detailed above be approved and signed as a correct record by the Chairman.

The Committee will receive an update from the Licensing Authority Working Group which has met on two occasions and a copy of the notes from the meeting of 2 May 2019 are attached.  The Committee will receive a verbal update on the Working Group meeting of 22 May 2019.

The Working Group also seek to recommend to the Licensing Committee the adoption of their approved Terms of Reference which are detailed below:

1.         In relation to hackney carriage and private hire vehicles licensing for

          Wiltshire the Licensing Authority Working Group will consider/review the

          following:

·           Wiltshire’s hackney carriage maximum tariffs/fare levels

·           The introduction of literacy and language tests for drivers

·           Enhanced safeguarding for proprietors

·           Use of accessible vehicles for wheelchairs

·           Use of CCTV in hackney carriages and private hire vehicles

·           The use of enforcement on taxi ranks

·           Use of Uber within Wiltshire.

2.      To make any evidenced recommendations to the Licensing Committee for improvement/approval as appropriate.

Julie Anderson-Hill (Head of Service for Culture and Operational Change, Waste and Environment) introduced her Team – Peter White, (Head of Enforcement).  Pete explained that the hackney carriages/private hire licensing had previously been part of the Fleet Team, but this had now moved across to sit under him within the Enforcement Team.  Tom Ince (Amenity Partnership Team Leader) had moved across to work under Peter.  There were currently a team of 4 working on hackney carriage/private hire licensing but two of these staff had only recently commenced and would require a number of months to get them up to a suitable knowledge standard. 

It was agreed that a list of Officers within these Teams in particular areas would be shared with Members following the meeting.

The Committee considered the Terms of Reference for the Licensing Authority Working Group which the Working Group had approved at their meeting on 22 May 2019.  The Committee confirmed that they were in agreement to adopt these Terms of Reference. 

Members asked the following questions;

Q        Are the vehicle MOTs sufficient to ensure the safety of the users of taxis in Wiltshire?

A        We check that MOTs are in place on the vehicles that we licence, and we do six monthly inspections.  We have stricter rigorous standards which are over the current legal requirements.

Q        Is there an age restriction on vehicles that are licenced in Wiltshire?

A        We are reviewing our current age restrictions on vehicles as it may be that whilst a car could be older, the mileage could be lower and the vehicle could be used as a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

Q        Do we have a fleet of taxis that is 100% wheelchair accessible?

A        No.  As mentioned earlier, we are looking at relaxing some of our age of vehicles criteria to allow older cars that are wheelchair accessible to be used.

Julie gave an update to the Committee on behalf of the Licensing Authority Working Group and highlighted the following:

·       The Working Group have met on two occasions since March;

·       At the first meeting a number of actions were requested of Officers and updates on progress of these were reported at the second meeting;

·       Uber are NOT currently licenced as a private hire operator in Wiltshire, but this does not mean that they cannot operate their service in Wiltshire.  Uber take bookings via their office in Bath, where they are licensed, or via their app and subcontract them to Wiltshire licensed hackney carriage drivers/vehicles. A hackney carriage can be used as a private hire vehicle and is not subject to the same operator’s licence requirements that a private hire driver would be;

·       The law allows a licensed private hire driver and vehicle to work and pick up from anywhere within the Country if the journey is pre-booked;

·       The Fleet Licensing Team believe that any driver working for Uber and taking private hire bookings should hold a Private Hire Operators Licence. It is proposed to update the Council’s driver and vehicle guidelines  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

A training/update session for Members was then held between 11.15 and 12:50pm.

The following Members were present:

Councillors Allison Bucknell, Trevor Carbin (from 12pm), Peter Evans, Sue Evans, Gavin Grant, Jose Green, Mike Hewitt, Atiqul Hoque, Peter Hutton, George Jeans, Leo Randal and Graham Wright.

Enforcement – Scrap Metal

Pete White (Enforcement Manager) gave details of the role of the Enforcement Team and in particular their working into scrap metal dealer licensing and enforcement.  A copy of the slides referred to is attached as Appendix 1.

Temporary Events Notices

Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) gave an overview of TENS.  A copy of the slides are attached as Appendix 2.

Licensing Act Hearings

Linda Holland (Licensing Manager) and Sarah Marshall (Senior Solicitor) gave an overview of Licensing Hearings.  A copy of the slides are attached as Appendix 3.

Members are asked to note the future meetings of the Licensing Committee, all to commence at 10.30am:

2 September 2019

2 December 2019

2 March 2020.

Members noted the date of future meetings of the Licensing Committee as detailed below, all to start at 10.30am

2 September 2019

2 December 2019

2 March 2020.

There were no urgent items.