Meeting Details

Licensing Committee
13 Sep 2017 - 18:00 to 00:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
1 Welcome and Announcements

a)     The Chairman to welcome members of the public and Councillors and to remind all speakers of the requirement for microphones to be used at all times.

(b)     At the Chairman's discretion, to announce information on:

  • action in the event of an emergency;
  • mobile phones switched to silent;
  • the audio-recording of meetings;
  • location of toilets;
  • introduction of members of the meeting.
2 Substitutions

Members may arrange for a substitute councillor to attend a meeting on their behalf, subject to prior notice being given. The attendance of substitute councillors must be recorded.

Councillor Pauline Hazell for Councillor Roger Buston
3 Urgent Items

To announce any items not on the agenda which the Chairman has agreed to consider because they are urgent, to give reasons for the urgency and to indicate where in the order of business the item will be considered.

4 Declarations of Interest

The Chairman to invite Councillors to declare individually any interests they may have in the items on the agenda. Councillors should consult Meetings General Procedure Rule 7 for full guidance on the registration and declaration of interests. However Councillors may wish to note the following:- 

  • Where a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest, other pecuniary interest or a non-pecuniary interest in any business of the authority and he/she is present at a meeting of the authority at which the business is considered, the Councillor must disclose to that meeting the existence and nature of that interest, whether or not such interest is registered on his/her register of Interests or if he/she has made a pending notification.  
     
  • If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at a meeting, he/she must not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter at the meeting. The Councillor must withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer.
     
  • Where a Councillor has another pecuniary interest in a matter being considered at a meeting and where the interest is one which a member of the public with knowledge of the relevant facts would reasonably regard as so significant that it is likely to prejudice the Councillor’s judgement of the public interest, the Councillor must disclose the existence and nature of the interest and withdraw from the room where the meeting is being held unless he/she has received a dispensation from the Monitoring Officer.
     
  • Failure to comply with the arrangements regarding disclosable pecuniary interests without reasonable excuse is a criminal offence, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and disqualification from office for up to 5 years.
5 Have Your Say!
a) The Chairman to invite members of the public to indicate if they wish to speak or present a petition at this meeting – either on an item on the agenda or on a general matter relating to the terms of reference of the Committee/Panel not on this agenda. You should indicate your wish to speak at this point if your name has not been noted by Council staff.

(b) The Chairman to invite contributions from members of the public who wish to Have Your Say! on a general matter relating to the terms of reference of the Committee/Panel not on this agenda.
Presentation by Belinda Silkstone and Tim Savage on Air Quality 
30
Belinda Silkstone, Environmental Protection & Animal Services Manager, and Tim Savage from Essex County Council gave a talk on Air Quality.  Mrs Silkstone informed the Committee that Colchester had four declared Air Quality Management areas, with the largest of these in Area 1 which covered the Town Centre. Mr Savage then explained the options available to reduce taxi emissions: Changing the licensing conditions to only grant new licences to vehicles that  were either fully electric or hybrid; Euro 5 for diesel vehicles or Euro 4 petrol vehicles  from September 2018 and Euro 6 for diesel vehicles and Euro 4 for petrol vehicles from 2020. A further licensing condition was suggested that to specify that all vehicles must meet an LPG, low emission or electric/hybrid standard from January 2025.

The Committee asked Mrs Silkstone about the current provision of electric charging power points and the proposals to broaden coverage of such facilities to support the promotion of promoting electric hackney carriage and private hire vehicles. Mrs Silkstone informed the Committee that the Council were currently looking at charging points within the town centre but it was in the early stages at the moment. 
See report from the Assistant Director of Environment
31
The Committee considered the draft Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Licensing Policy and report by the Assistant Director of Environment. The Committee’s approval of the draft policy was sought to enable the consultation process to begin. 

The Committee acknowledged the work of officers in updating the Policy.  The Committee sought clarification on matters in relation to school parking, drop offs and parking on pedestrian crossings and what could be done to prevent such actions. Mr Ruder informed the Committee that these were all highways issues but if a persistent offender was identified penalty points maybe given on their licence.  In general enforcement of such matters would be a Police matter.

The needs of those with disabilities were discussed and in response to the issues raised Mr Ruder agreed to include in the Policy a list of assistance dogs that must be carried; investigate a way in which wheelchair accessible vehicles could be easily identified by potential users; and  

The Committee agreed that the Convictions Policy was an excellent piece of work and made it very clear to all potential applicants the likelihood of them being granted a licence if they had received a previous convictions. The Committee also asked about CCTV in taxis and whether any financial help could be given in the event that its installation was made mandatory. Mr Ruder informed the Committee that further work was necessary to look at the systems and how they could be provided; the issue of funding would be looked at as part of this work.  

RESOLVED that the draft Taxi Policy Report be approved for consultation purposes.
see report from Assistant Director of Environment
32
The Committee considered proposed amendments to the Licensing Policy as outlined by the Assistant Director of Environment. Mrs Harrington informed the Committee that in light of experience gained from previous hearings it had become apparent the the wording within the Policy; particularly in relation to the Old Town Zone, was causing some misunderstanding amongst applicants who mistakenly considered that the Council had adopted a cumulative impact policy.  The proposed changes were designed to make it clear to applicants that the presumption of grant remained and that each case would be considered on its own merits.  The Policy set out the Council’s expectations and was there for the guidance of all applicants. 

The Committee questioned the fact that fire sprinklers were not mentioned within the Policy, especially after recent events in London.  Mr Ruder informed the Committee that this was not a licensing issue.  Fire Safety was a matter for the Fire Authority and planning. However, the relationship between Licensing and the Fire Authority was very good and there was a ready flow of information between the authorities to deal with matters of concern. 

RESOLVED that the proposed amendments to the Licensing Policy be approved.
Part B
9 Exclusion of the Public (not Scrutiny or Executive)
In accordance with Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 to exclude the public, including the press, from the meeting so that any items containing exempt information (for example confidential personal, financial or legal advice), in Part B of this agenda (printed on yellow paper) can be decided. (Exempt information is defined in Section 100I and Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972).
10 Minutes
To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 5 July and 7 July
33
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 5 and 7 July 2017 be approved as a correct record.
5 July 2017
  • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to an individual).
7 July 2017 Appeal A
  • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to an individual).
7 July 2017 Appeal B
  • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to an individual).
7 July 2017 Appeal C
  • This report is not for publication by virtue of paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (information relating to an individual).

Additional Meeting Documents

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
Councillor Roger Buston Councillor Pauline Hazell
Councillor Philip Oxford  
NameReason for AbsenceSubstituted By
No absentee information has been recorded for the meeting.

Declarations of Interests

Member NameItem Ref.DetailsNature of DeclarationAction
No declarations of interest have been entered for this meeting.

Visitors

Visitor Information is not yet available for this meeting