To receive apolgies for absence

24.1    Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Evans, Viv Parry and Dave Tremellen.

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the remainder of the Municipal Year

25.1    RESOLVED:

That Councillor Nigel Lumby be appointed Vice Chairman of the Strategic Licencing Committee for the remainder of the municipal year

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record

26.1    The minutes of the meeting held on 6 October 2021 had been circulated.

26.2    RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Strategic Licencing Committee held on 6 October 2021 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any public questions or petitions from the public, notice of which has been given in accordance with Procedure Rule 14.  The deadline for this meeting is [Date].

27.1    There were no questions from members of the public

28.1    There were no declarations made.

To appoint a Conservative Member of the Committee to serve on the Licencing and Safety Sub Committee to replace Cllr Simon Jones.

29.1    The Chairman advised the meeting that there was need to appoint a conservative member to the Licencing and Safety Sub Committee to replace Councillor Simon Jones.

29.2    RESOLVED:

            That Councillor Nigel Lumby be appointed to serve on the Licencing and Safety Sub Committee

Report of the Transactional and Licensing Team Manager is attached.

Contact: Mandy Beever (01743 251702)

30.1    Members received the report of the Transactional and Licensing Team Manager which gave details of the licences issued and the variations that have been made under delegated powers between 1 September 2021 and the 31 October 2021 and a summary of applications considered by the Committee.

30.2    The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager reminded Members that the report was brought to each meeting of the committee and that it updated them on the number and types of licences that had been issued since the last meeting.  She added that following a request at the last meeting she had added the renewal period of each licence to the table. 

30.3    A Member commented that there had been 5 driver licences revoked and asked whether this was a high number of revocations and asked for more details of the reasons for revocation.  The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager stated that she could not go into details but the reasons a licence could be revoked included driver conduct, driving offenses and prosecutions.  She added that the number was not particularly high.

30.4    A Member asked whether there were more private hire applications given that there was a shortage of these in most of the market towns in the area.  The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager commented that this was a national issue caused by drivers getting other jobs thought the pandemic.  She added that several local firms were carrying out recruitment campaigns to increase the number of drivers, both those that had left for other jobs and new drivers.  A Member commented that he had been told that some of the shortage had arisen as a result of the new rules around wheelchair accessible vehicles.  The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager commented that they had been working with the taxi firms and that hackney carriage operators had the option to transfer to a private hire licence where the vehicle was not compliant with the rules.

30.5    RESOLVED:

That Members note the position as set out in the report

Report of the Transactional and Licensing Team Manager is attached.

Contact: Mandy Beever (01743 251702)

31.1    Members received the report of the Transactional and Licensing Team Manager which proposed fees for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 for licences associated with Relevant Protected Sites where the authority has discretion to determine the fees. 

31.2    The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager informed Members that following the introduction of the “fit and proper person” register her team had been working with site owners to ensure full registration and that as part of this work consideration had been given to setting fees for the processing of applications and that the same process had been used as that for setting other fees.

31.3    A Member commented that the site fee for smaller sites seemed relatively high compared with bigger sites.  The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager explained that the cost of processing the licence was the same whatever the size of the site and that the increased costs for larger sites related to the increased number of checks required with the increased number of units

31.4    A Member enquired whether there had been any consultation with site owners regarding the fees or whether there were any plans for consultation.  The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager advised the meeting that her team had been working closely with existing site owners to ensure the relevant licences were in place during the fee free period, and that the fees would be included in the Fees and Charges report which would be taken to Council in February and if approved would be applicable for new application form the start of the new financial year.

31.5    In response to a query regarding how the fees compared to other Councils the Transactional and Licensing Team Manager stated that the fees were discretionary and were based on a cost recovery basis so different councils would have different fees.  The Transactional and Licensing Team Manager also confirmed that the annual fees would only apply to newly licenced sites for the next 5 years when they would apply to all sites31.6    .

31.6    RESOLVED:

a)    That the Committee implements, with any necessary modification and with effect from 1 April 2022, the proposed fees as set out in Appendix A that relate to those licences and licensing related activities where the authority has the discretion to determine the fees and instructs the Head of Trading Standards and Licensing to arrange for the fees to be included in the 2022/23 annual fees and charges reports that are presented to Cabinet and Council and further instructs the Head of Trading Standards and Licensing to publish the fees on the licensing pages of the Council’s website as soon as is practicable.   

b)    That the Relevant Protected Site fees policy as set out at Appendix B is published on the licensing pages of the Council’s website as soon as is practicable

To note that the next meeting of the Strategic Licensing Committee will be held on 16 March 2022 at 10.00am

32.1    Members noted that that the next  meeting  of the  Strategic Licensing Committee would be held on 16 March  2022 at 10.00am