Meeting Details

Licensing Committee
14 Nov 2018 - 18:00 to 00:00
Occurred
  • Documents
  • Attendance
  • Visitors
  • Declarations of Interests

Documents

Agenda

Part A
1 Welcome and Announcements
The Chairman will welcome members of the public and Councillors and remind everyone to use microphones at all times when they are speaking. The Chairman will also explain action in the event of an emergency, mobile phones switched to silent, audio-recording of the meeting. Councillors who are members of the committee will introduce themselves.
2 Substitutions
Councillors will be asked to say if they are attending on behalf of a Committee member who is absent.
3 Urgent Items
The Chairman will announce if there is any item not on the published agenda which will be considered because it is urgent and will explain the reason for the urgency.
4 Declarations of Interest
Councillors will be asked to say if there are any items on the agenda about which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest which would prevent them from participating in any discussion of the item or participating in any vote upon the item, or any other pecuniary interest or non-pecuniary interest.
5 Minutes of Previous Meeting
The Councillors will be invited to confirm that the minutes are a correct record of the meetings held on the 29 August and 3 October 2018.
71
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 28 August 2018 (amended) and 
3 October 2018 be approved as a correct record.
6 Have Your Say!
The Chairman will invite members of the public to indicate if they wish to speak or present a petition on any item included on the agenda or any other matter relating to the terms of reference of the meeting. Please indicate your wish to speak at this point if your name has not been noted by Council staff.
The Committee have been asked to consider the consultation responses received following a further period of consultation on the Policy.
72

Have Your Say!

Mr Naish, Private Hire Driver, spoke to the Committee concerning the requirement in the new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy for an annual medical once a driver reached the age of 65. Mr Naish questioned why it was necessary when the DVLA do not request any renewal of licence until the age of 70. Mr Naish asked why there was age discrimination towards taxi drivers when members of staff from other areas of work are not asked to complete a medical examination to carry on working.

The Committee sympathised with Mr Naish but acknowledged that, as Mr Ruder had pointed out, the annual medical certification for a Private/Hire Hackney Carriage driver from the age of 65 is a requirement of the Group 2 UK medical standards for driver licensing.

Mr Isbill, Chairman of the Colchester Hackney Carriage Association, addressed the Committee with regard to investigating quotes for CCTV systems that met the specifications currently required by the Policy. Mr Isbill informed the Committee that the cost was £1000 - £1200 which he felt was a substantial amount. The Committee thanked Mr Isbill for his assistance with regard to the quotes but would not comment at the moment as CCTV would be discussed at a future Committee date.

The Committee then considered a report from the Assistant Director Communities concerning the Taxi Policy consultation responses and were asked to consider those received following a further period of consultation on the Policy.

Mr Ruder, Licensing, Food & Safety Manager informed the Committee that, due to the outcome of the consultation, officers were asking the Committee to approve the necessary changes to the Taxi Policy but not to include, at this stage, provisions relating to CCTV. He informed the Committee that officers had been working very closely with trade members and a number of important issues had been raised which required further detailed consideration and work.  Amongst the issues raised were the ownership and storage of the data and cost of the equipment.

The Committee thanked officers and the Hackney Carriage/ Private Hire drivers, who had responded to the consultation, for all their hard work and co-operation.

RESOLVED –

(i) That the Policy, excluding Appendix 1, be recommended to full Council for adoption and implementation with effect from 1 January 2019.

(ii) That full Council be recommended to delegate to the Licensing Committee authority to determine the provisions in relation to the installation of CCTV in hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.

The Committee have been asked to approve the Gambling Policy following the end of a consultation period.
73

The Committee considered a report from Mr Ruder, Licensing, Food & Safety Manager, with regard to approving the Gambling Policy following the end of a consultation period.

Mr Ruder informed the Committee that no representations had been made within the consultation period and the Committee were therefore being asked to agree the draft Policy and propose its adoption to full Council on 6 December 2018.

RESOLVED that the draft Policy be agreed and recommended to full Council for adoption and implementation with effect from 31 January 2019.

The Licensing Committee have been asked to agree the proposed Pavement Permit Policy to enable formal adoption by Council.
74

The Committee considered a report by Mr Ruder, Licensing and Food Safety Manager, with regard to the introduction a permit procedure for the safe layout of movable street furniture in the town. It was hoped  to encourage a café culture in relation to bars, pubs, restaurants and cafes.

Mr Ruder informed the Committee that the aim was to use a permit and conditions system to ensure ease of access, safety and improve visual impact in an efficient, fair and controlled way. The proposed policy was intended to help businesses understand where street cafes might be encouraged, where they would not be permitted, and the specific requirements in relation to their licensing.

In response to questions from the Committee Mr Ruder informed them that the Policy would initially start in the town centre but could become Borough wide later. It was also explained that the pricing table was based on square meterage of the outside area and for businesses that renew it would be a lower amount. The Committee were informed that there was an error in section 8 it should read ‘The Council will require that all glasses, crockery and other ancillary items used in the permitted area, are made of a toughened material when the area is used after 6.00pm’

In reply to a question about beggars Mr Ruder informed the Committee that he would contact the Community Safety Team and raise the issue with them.

RESOLVED that the draft Policy be agreed and recommended to full Council for adoption and implementation with effect from 1 January 2019.

The Committee have been asked to note the contents Committee’s Work Programme for 2018-19.
Part B
11 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).

Attendance

Name
No other member attendance information has been recorded for the meeting.
NameReason for Sending ApologySubstituted By
Councillor Nick Cope Councillor Helen Chuah
Councillor Patricia Moore  
Councillor Gerard 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