Agenda item - Countywide Licensing Work Plan

Agenda item

Countywide Licensing Work Plan

Minutes:

The Board considered a report that gave an overview of the type of work carried out by the Licensing Team, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) on behalf of the six partner authorities during the last twelve months and a brief synopsis of work planned for 2017/2018.

 

The Licensing and SupportManager, WRS presented the report and in doing so informed the Board that under the partnership agreement licensing was a reserved matter, which meant that whilst WRS officers could act under delegated authority to deal with licensing (e.g. issuing licences, taking enforcement action) all matters of policy must be determined by each partner authority.

 

Each partner authority had an appointed Licensing Committee which met on average 4/5 times per municipal year. 

 

One of the main objectives for the Licensing Team had been to work with each of the Licensing Committee Chairs to introduce a structured approach to Licensing Committee agendas for each partner authority. 

 

This had involved the introduction of individual districts Licensing Committee Work Plans, which included all proposed future committee meeting dates, with pre-planned policy review information allocated alongside the routine fixed agenda items.  This accomplished two things, it gave Members an informed view of upcoming agenda items and it enabled the policy workflow for each district to be planned and managed by officers on a countywide basis.

 

Members were further informed that the main focus for the forthcoming financial year would be to expand this piece of work into a long term strategic program.  Because of the longer term nature of issues such as disabled access vehicles and changes to aspects of policy around vehicle type and description, this could mean developing a 5 to 10 year countrywide rolling program of policy reviews for a number of the partners.  It was considered best practice that each district council had a robust policy review program in place to ensure that their individual policies were still relevant to the subject matter and that they met any needs and objectives set down by legislation.

 

Part of the review process would involve consideration of the revised Local Government Association (LGA) “Councillor Handbook on Taxi Licensing” published in December 2016; and the much anticipated LGA “Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Statutory and Best Practice Guidance,” due out in early spring.

Both of these documents would influence future policy development across the partner authorities and licensing officers would be focused on ensuring local policies met best practice guidance wherever possible.  

One such example was that each licensing authority currently had a policy on the application of the “Supplemental guidance relating to the relevance of convictions and cautions” which aided officers and Members in the decision making process to determine if an applicant / taxi driver was a fit and proper person to hold a licence. 

The Licensing Team was currently developing a much wider policy document which, if adopted by Members, would incorporate the wider scope of driving history / experience, medical fitness, criminal and driving convictions, warnings, reprimands and any valid complaints into the process for considering whether an applicant / driver was a fit and proper person to hold such a licence. 

This would obviously seek to drive up standards within our current driver cohort and ensure that only the right people were endorsed as drivers by partner authorities. Hopefully such steps would protect the reputation of the relevant licensing authorities, build on historic protections for the travelling public and help raise the level of kudos associated with being a licensed driver. 

Appendix 1 to the report detailed the Work Programme for Licensing Committees 2016/2017.

The Chairman thanked the Licensing and Support Manager, WRS for the report, which she was pleased with.  The Chairman commented that she was mindful that the Work Programme for Licensing Committees 2016/2017, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report highlighted that, Redditch Borough Council and Malvern Hills District Council, Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s had both conducted a scrutiny exercise with regard to Disability Access to Vehicles (Taxis). 

The Chairman suggested that officers look at carrying out any future Joint Overview and Scrutiny working, where relevant, if the service area came under Worcestershire Regulatory Services. 

RESOLVED:

a)    that the Democratic Services Officer to liaise with Redditch Borough Council and Bromsgrove District Council, Overview and Scrutiny officers,     with regard to raising the suggestion, as made by the Chairman, in the preamble above; that the Worcestershire Joint Scrutiny Network look to engage with partner authorities in respect of any future Joint Overview and Scrutiny working, if the service area came under Worcestershire Regulatory Services; and

b)    that the Countywide Licensing Work Plan be noted.  

  

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting documents: