Agenda and draft minutes

05 December 2023

It was moved by Councillor Marilyn Franks, seconded by Councillor Peter Dobbs and

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Appeals Committee held on 26 03 2024 be approved as a correct record.

Voting

08 For

00 Against

02 Abstentions

The Chair declared the motion CARRIED.

Members are required to declare the existence and nature of any interests they may have in subsequent agenda items in accordance with the District Council’s Code of Conduct. Those interests are matters that relate to money or that which can be valued in money, affecting the Member, her/his partner, extended family and close friends. Interests that become apparent at a later stage in the proceedings may be declared at the time.

Item 6 - Review of House-To-House and Street Collections Licensing Policy

Councillor Steve Wain declared a non-pecuniary interest due to being a member of the Royal British Legion and occasionally collecting donations for them.

Councillor Joanne Linthwaite declared a non-pecuniary interest due to volunteering to collect donations to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Councillor Marilyn Franks declared a non-pecuniary interest due to being a member of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and occasionally collecting donations for them.

To enable members of the public to ask questions, express views or present petitions, IF NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN, (by telephone, in writing or by email) BY NO LATER THAN 12 NOON OF THE WORKING DAY PRECEDING THE MEETING. As per Procedural Rule 14.4 at any one meeting no person may submit more than 3 questions and no more than 1 such question may be asked on behalf of one organisation.

Mr John Greenhough spoke on Item 5, Request for Exemption from Taxi Licensing Policy Requirement Maximum Age Limit for Licensed Vehicles.

This report seeks consideration of an application for an exemption from the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy’s vehicle maximum age limit.

The Licensing Manger introduced a report seeking consideration of an application for an exemption from the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy’s vehicle maximum age limit.

Members were informed that the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy required that any vehicle to be licensed as a taxi (hackney carriage) or a private hire vehicle would not be more than 10 years old at the time of licensing. This meant that when a licensed vehicle passed the tenth year of registration, the taxi/private hire vehicle licence could not be automatically renewed as it no longer complied with policy requirements.

A request had been received from Mr John Greenhough, Area Director for 24 x 7 ltd, for an exemption from the 10-year age limit in respect of fully wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV) currently licensed by the Council but approaching 10 years of age.

The 6 vehicles that Mr Greenhough wished to re-licence after each had passed 10 years of age, were listed in his request to the Committee for an exemption in Appendix 1. A brief licensing history and the age of each vehicle was summarised in Appendix 2.

The recommendations as set out in the report were moved by Councillor Geoff Bond, seconded by Councillor John Bointon, with an amendment to recommendation 3 as set out below:

3.    That the Committee considers giving tacit approval for all 6 vehicles on the list (in Appendix 2 to the report) to vary the age limit for these vehicles to 13 years.

And the addition of recommendation 4:

4.    That at the discretion of the lead mechanic, up to a maximum of 3 inspections on these vehicles a year should be carried out as necessary.

RESOLVED (unanimously)

1.    That the Committee considers the request from John Greenhough, Area Director for Derbyshire for 24 x 7 Ltd, for an exemption from the Council’s Taxi Licensing Policy requirement in respect of the maximum age limit for licensing a vehicle as a private hire vehicle.

2.    That having considered the request, the Committee determines whether applications to re-licence the wheelchair accessible vehicles detailed in Appendix 2 of the report, currently licensed as Private Hire Vehicles (contract only), should be accepted by the Licensing Manager.

3.    That the Committee considers giving tacit approval for all 6 vehicles on the list (in Appendix 2 to the report) to vary the age limit for these vehicles to 13 years.

4.    That at the discretion of the lead mechanic, up to a maximum of 3 inspections on these vehicles a year should be carried out as necessary.

The Chair declared the motion CARRIED.

This report seeks the Committee’s consideration of the draft House-to-House and Street Collection Policy detailed in Appendix 1.

Approval is sought for Officers to carry out a consultation exercise on an agreed draft Policy, with a view to referring it to full Council for consideration for adoption and republishing by 1^st August 2024.

The Licensing Manager introduced a report which sought the Committee’s consideration of the draft House-to-House and Street Collections Policy detailed in Appendix 1. Approval was sought for Officers to carry out a consultation exercise on an agreed draft Policy, with a view to referring it to full Council for consideration for adoption and republishing by 1^st August 2024.

The Council was the Licensing Authority for Charitable Street Collections under Section 5 of the Police, Factories etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 and Charitable House to House Collections under the House-to-House Collections Act 1939.

The current Policy was approved by Council and took effect from 1^st July 2021 with a view that a further review would be carried out 3 years later. In the interim period the Policy had been kept under review, and any legislative or administrative changes required had been made to the draft Policy document detailed in Appendix 1.

Officers consider that the Policy has worked well; there had not been any complaints or issues in the way the service had been administered during the last 3 years. It was noted that a 6-week consultation exercise should be undertaken to ensure that stakeholders of the service have the opportunity to influence any required changes.

An amendment to the recommendation was moved by Councillor Lucy Peacock, seconded by Councillor Geoff Bond. This was put to the vote and

RESOLVED (unanimously)

That the Committee considers and approves for consultation the draft House-to-House and Street Collections Policy as detailed in Appendix 1, once updates have been made to the draft Policy in regard to complaints, GDPR and modern payment methods.

The Chair declared the motion CARRIED.