Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that Councillor J. Elledge be elected Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

RESOLVED that Councillor B. McEldowney be elected Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the ensuing municipal year.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors H. J. Jones, and S. Ammar.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 25^th March 2024 were submitted.

It was noted that the local resident who had submitted a representation to the Hackney Carriage Stand in Market Street Service Road – consideration of objections / representations (Minute No. 41/23); was contacted by officers as requested by Members.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held 25^th March 2024, be approved as a correct record.

The Principal Officer (Licensing), Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS)

presented the report and in doing so informed Members that in July 2020 the

Business and Planning Act 2020 was enacted. The legislation was expedited

through Parliament to make provisions relating to the promotion of economic

recovery and growth as the country emerged from various restrictions that had

been put in place in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Part 1 of the Act introduced provisions in England and Wales that put in place

a streamlined process to enable businesses to obtain permission to place

removeable furniture on the highway for use in connection with the sale and

consumption of food and drink. The need for a streamlined process was to

ensure that hospitality businesses could maximise their opportunities to trade

profitably at a time when social distancing requirements guidance remained in

place which impacted the number of customers that they could accommodate

inside their premises.

The legislation was put in place very quickly and therefore commenced as soon

as it was enacted. This meant that there was very little time available to put in

place policies and procedures for dealing with applications.

Responsibility for issuing the new “pavement licences” was given to district

councils in England, including Bromsgrove District Council.

The provisions in Part 1 of the Business and Planning Act 2020 were only

originally intended to remain in place for a temporary period, and section 10 of

the Act originally stated that the provisions would expire at the end of 30

September 2021. The temporary regime was subsequently extended on three

separate occasions before a decision was taken to make it a permanent

licensing regime. The regime was made permanent on 31 March 2024 by virtue

of the commencement of provisions made in the Levelling Up and Regeneration

Act 2023.

At the same time as making the regime permanent, some important

amendments were made to the pavement licensing regime including extending

the consultation and determination periods in respect of applications from 7 to

14 days each. The permanent regime also contained new powers to serve

notices and remove furniture that was placed on the highway without

permission.

Now that the pavement licensing regime had been made permanent, it was now

necessary to review and revise the Council’s Policy on Pavement Licensing to

ensure that it was fit for purpose and that the policy reflected the amendments

that had been made to the regime since it was first introduced.

Members’ attention was drawn to the draft policy, as detailed at Appendix 1 to

the report, that had been drafted with reference to the guidance on pavement

licences as published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and

Communities (DLUHC) on 2^nd April 2024 under section 8 of the Business and

Planning Act 2020.

The first two sections of the draft policy set out the background to the licensing

regime, explained the scope and provided assistance in understanding key

terms from the legislation used throughout the document.

The draft policy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6/24

The Principal Officer (Licensing), WRS presented the report and in doing so

drew Members’ attention to page 46 of the main agenda pack and informed

Members that in 2021 a review of all of the Council’s hackney carriage and

private hire licensing policies was undertaken in response to the publication by

the Department for Transport of guidance under section 177 of the Policing and

Crime Act 2017 entitled “Statutory Taxi & Private Hire Standards.” This work

had resulted in the production of a new draft hackney carriage and private hire

licensing policy, which the Council implemented in September 2022.

As part of the changes implemented in September 2022 the Council introduced a ‘Competency Certificate’ which all ‘new’ drivers were required to undertake. This certificate comprised of training on safeguarding, disability, equality, and many other aspects of training deemed necessary in order to apply for a new licence.

Anyone licensed prior to September 2022 and who continued to apply to renew their licence were only asked to undertake safeguarding training on a voluntary basis. This had in effect created an uneven playing field.

In 2018 licensing officers worked with partners across Worcestershire and offered a programme of child exploitation training (CSE) for all taxi drivers free of charge but on a voluntary basis. The take up of this training across the County was around 75%, which was very positive.

Many neighbouring authorities and local authorities across the country used the implementation of the statutory standards as an opportunity to implement mandatory safeguarding training for their licence holders.

Officers believed that the safeguarding module of the current training program for new drivers should be rolled out to all drivers including existing licensed drivers that had not undertaken the competency certificate.

The proposal that officers believed would cause the least disruption to drivers and be the most efficient way to implement, was set out in a draft revised extract from the Council’s current Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, which stated:-

‘With effect from 1st April 2025 each time a licence holder renews their licence they must undertake safeguarding training delivered by the Council’s approved training provider prior to submitting their renewal application’.

Officers would therefore undertake a consultation with relevant stakeholders and the public on whether to introduce a requirement, as detailed in the preamble above, with regards to mandatory safeguarding training.

A brief discussion followed whereby Members commented that this was a really good idea to take forward.

The Principal Officer (Licensing), WRS responded to questions from the Committee and explained that it was the responsibility of neighbouring authorities to implement safeguarding training for their licence holders.

The ‘Competency Certificate’ training was offered in English only.  In order to obtain the Worcestershire Taxi and Private Hire Competency Certificate, a person must demonstrate they possessed a suitable level of skills, knowledge and understanding in the English language proficiency, both spoken and written.  This requirement was highlighted in the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7/24

Members of the Licensing Committee were asked to consider an issue that had arisen for the hackney carriage and private hire trade in Bromsgrove since the Council had the adoption of a new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy on 1^st September 2022.

The Principal Officer (Licensing), WRS explained that on 1^st September 2022 the Council had implemented a new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy, which was later amended with effect from 1^st April 2023. The policy contained requirements in respect of the licensing of vehicles to be used as a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle. The relevant part of the current Policy was detailed at Appendix 1 to the report.

One of the changes that the new policy introduced was a stipulation that the Council would no longer licence any vehicle to be used as either a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle if it had been graded as a Category A, Category B or Category C or Category S write-off for insurance purposes. Paragraphs 3.1.10 (page 58 of the main agenda report) and 3.2.10 (page 60 of the main agenda report) of the policy set this out in respect of those vehicles being licensed by the Council to be used as a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle for the first occasion.

The new policy further stated that the Council would also not renew any licence to use a vehicle as a hackney carriage if the vehicle had been graded as a Category A, Category B or Category C or Category S write-off for insurance purposes. Paragraphs 3.3.11 (page 61 of the main agenda report) and 3.4.11 (page 63 of the main agenda report) were the relevant paragraphs in this respect.

The wording currently used in paragraphs 3.3.11 and 3.4.11 of the policy meant that vehicles that were licensed before the new policy took effect and that had been previously graded as a Category A, Category B or Category C or Category S write-off no longer complied with the Council’s policy, even though these vehicles had been licensed for a number of years without any issues arising.

Officers believed that when approving the new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy, Members had in fact intended for there to be a gradual phasing out of the licensing of vehicles that had been graded as a Category A, Category B or Category C or Category S write-off rather than intending to stop licensing all such vehicles when the relevant licences were next due to be renewed.

Officers further believed that this intention could be achieved by making minor amendments to the wording contained in paragraphs 3.3.11 and 3.4.11 of the policy; the proposed alternative wording was detailed at Appendix 2 to the report, as follows: -

Vehicles written off for insurance purposes

3.3.11           The Council will not renew any licence to use a vehicle as a

hackney carriage if the relevant vehicle has been become graded

as a Category A, Category  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8/24

The Committee considered the Work Programme for 2024/2025. 

RESOLVED that the Licensing Committee Work Programme for 2024/2025, be noted.

There were no Enforcement / Appeals updates.