Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 3 October 2023.

The minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 3 October 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

To receive communications from the Chair.

The Chair made the following announcements:

-       Members of the public were permitted to film, broadcast, and report on the meeting, subject to the efficient running of the meeting not being affected.

-       Only those people who had registered with Democratic Services were able to address the Committee.

-       Members of the public were requested not to call out during the Committee’s discussions on any item – anybody disrupting the conduct of the meeting would be given a warning, and if they continued to disrupt the meeting, they would be asked to leave.

-       This meeting was being webcast on the Council’s corporate YouTube channel, therefore anybody speaking was requested to utilise their microphones when doing so for the benefit of those watching online or in the overspill room downstairs.

-       There were no planned fire drills so in the event of an alarm sounding, evacuation instructions would be given by officers.

-       That it be requested that any devices be switched off or onto silent mode.

The Chair to report on any requests to address the meeting.

Matthew Francis, on behalf of the Taxi Business Information Desk, addressed the Committee in relation to the draft Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy, and stated that, whilst it had been drafted well and was comprehensive, further clarification was required surrounding the transport of disabled passengers, whether Hackney Carriage drivers were able to refuse the carriage of inebriated passengers, and queried why the carriage of animals belonging to drivers was not permitted, yet the carriage of animals belonging to passengers was permitted.

At the end of the address, Mr Frances requested assurances from the Committee that the clause regarding the use of social media being considered as part of the ’fit and proper person’ test would be used proportionately and solely in relation to the driver or applicant’s role as a taxi driver and would not be used as a tool to curtail free speech, or legitimate political or religious expression.

Report of the Licensing Manager

Purpose of Report

The Committee is requested to consider and approve the draft West Northamptonshire Council Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy Post-Consultation, considering responses received during the consultation process.

**Please note that, due to the size of the document, Appendix B (All Consultation Responses) has been published as a separate addendum to this agenda**

Recommendations

The Committee is recommended to:

1.1  Approve the final draft of the West Northamptonshire Council Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy and associated appendices after considering responses received during the consultation process.

1.2  Delegate authority to the Assistant Director – Regulatory Services in consultation with the Chair of Taxi & General Licensing Committee to make any minor and consequential amendments to the policy once made an if required by law.

Resolved

(1)  That, having given due consideration to the responses received during the consultation process, the final draft of the West Northamptonshire Council Private Vehicle Hire and Hackney Carriage Licensing Policy and its associated appendices be approved, subject to a number of amendments to the draft policy which shall be set out in the minutes.

(2)  That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director – Regulatory Services in consultation with the Chair of the Taxi & General Licensing Committee to make any minor and consequential amendments to the Policy once made and if required by law.

The Committee considered the report of the Licensing Manager which sought approval of the new West Northamptonshire Council Private Hire Vehicle and Hackney Carriage and Licensing Policy post-consultation, considering the responses received during the consultation process.

The Assistant Director – Regulatory Services and the Licensing Manager provided a presentation which outlined the key details of the report, and reiterated to Members that whilst the draft policy and its contents had already previously been approved by the Committee for consultation in early 2023, the policy remained a living, breathing document and its implementation and operation once in force would be regularly reviewed by the Licensing team, in partnership with the local taxi trade and other stakeholders.

In response to questions from the Committee regarding the implementation period for the policy, the Assistant Director – Regulatory Services provided assurances that there would be a lead-in period for many elements of the policy, with approximately three months allowed for signage changes.

The Assistant Director – Regulatory Services also reiterated that the proposed penalty points system was designed to be an open and transparent method of dealing with breaches of the policy, with each case ultimately being dealt with on its own merits, with a maximum of 24 penalty points permitted to be incurred on a licence in any rolling three year period, with any driver in breach of this being placed before a Sub-Committee for an assessment of their fitness an propriety to retain their licence. 

On vehicle specifications and emissions, the Assistant Director – Regulatory Services highlighted that it was considered reasonable that existing licenced vehicles be granted grandfather rights until the purchase of a new vehicle became a necessity, and that Licensing Officers would continue to review amendments to the vehicle specifications in line with any developments in the make and model of licenced vehicles.

In response to concerns raised at the October meeting of the Committee surrounding criminal record checks, the Assistant Director – Regulatory Services confirmed that all applicants would be required to provide an enhanced DBS check, and once granted a licence, all licensees would be required to subscribe to the DBS Update Service at their expense.

On the proposed Certificate of Good Conduct, the Licensing Manager explained that, as DBS checks do not cover criminal history in countries outside the United Kingdom, any applicant who had lived abroad for any period of more than six months from the age of 18 must also provide, at their expense, a certificate of Good conduct from the appropriate Embassy or High Commission. The Licensing Manger also reiterated that, should the Certificate of Good Conduct highlight any criminal history from an applicant’s place of residence outside of the United Kingdom, such matters would be dealt with in the same way as a positive DBS disclosure and referred to a Sub-Committee Hearing for consideration to assess the applicant or the licensee’s fitness and propriety to hold a licence.

At the conclusion of the presentation, Councillor Gareth Eales set out a series of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Chair to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There were no items of urgent business.