Agenda and minutes

Apologies of absence were received from Councillor N R Gregory and T J Howard.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Committee held on 17 November 2015.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Committee held on 17 November 2015 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

To receive any declarations of interest from members in accordance with Standing Orders and the Council’s Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest made at this meeting.

To receive any deputations of which notice has been lodged.

The Committee received a deputation from Mr Paul Rogerson on A Review of the Hackney and Private Hire Licensing Conditions – Outcome of Consultation (minute 7 below refers).

RESOLVED that Mr Rogerson be thanked for his deputation.

To consider a report by the Director of Finance and Resources on the Committee’s fees and charges for 2016/17.

The report was presented by the Management and Financial Accounting Manager who explained to the Committee that following their comments from the previous meeting, he had included further information into the report regarding comparison of fees and charges with other authorities and provided some further information on the differences between the charging structures for Fareham Borough Council and Gosport Borough Council, and why this is problematic when trying to get the fees and charges to align.

The Chairman thanked the Management and Financial Accounting Manager for all of the extra work he had undertaken in order to provide the information requested by the Committee.

RESOLVED that the Committee agree the fees and charges for 2016/17, and recommend them to Full Council for approval.

(N.B. Councillor Price, JP abstained from the vote)

To consider a report by the Head of Environmental Health on The Hackney and Private Hire Licensing Conditions and Outcome of Consultation.

The Committee received the deputation referred to in minute 5 above.

(Councillors Cartwright and Miss Bell left the meeting at the conclusion of this item)

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Environmental Health on a review of the hackney and private hire license conditions following the outcome of the consultation.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to Appendix B which set out the consultation comments and suggested responses to the comments. The Head of Environmental Health went through each comment and gave the Committee explanations for the responses to each comment. Members discussed in further detail the following points:

D – Clarification was sought as to the difference between an approved Vehicle Examiner for the Department for Transport and an Independent Fitter providing an engineer’s report, and whether this would have any impact on the Council in terms of liability. The Head of Environmental Health reassures the Committee that there would be no impact on the Council as the independent fitter would be required to have the engineers report authenticated and stamped by a named garage.

I – The Head of Environmental Health explained that he is currently liaising with the County Council regarding this issue as he is aware of the problems taxi drivers are now facing with getting reimbursed for these tokens. Councillor Price suggested that the Fareham Borough Councillors who are also Hampshire County Councillors put forward motions at the County Council so that this issue can be debated by them.

M – Members were asked to decide on what advertising they would be willing to permit on Fareham taxis. It was agreed that advertising would be permitted on the two front doors; a small strip only providing the company details on the back window; and internal advertising for the company and other local Fareham businesses. All of the advertising would be subject to the approval of the Licensing Officer. Councillor Price also requested that any internal advertising does not over shadow the driver’s licence plate details.

RESOLVED that the Committee:-

(a)  Adopts the revised Conditions as set out in Appendix C, subject to the amendments listed above; and

(b)  Agrees the revised Conditions take effect from 1 March 2016.

To consider a report by the Head of Environmental Health on the Review of Licensing Policy and the Outcome of Consultation.

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Environmental Health on a review of the Licensing Policy.

The Head of Environmental Health informed the Committee that there had been no major changes to the policy due to the limited response to the consultation.

RESOLVED that the Committee recommend the draft policy to the Executive so that it may be recommended to Full Council for approval.

To consider a report by the Head of Environmental Health on the Gambling Statement of Principles and Outcome of Consultation.

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Environmental Health on Gambling - Statement of Principles, regarding the outcome of the consultation process.

Members were pleased to note that there were only minor changes made to the policy following the review of the document by Philip Kolvin QC.

Councillor Mandry requested that future documents be provided with the changes highlighted in them as it would be useful for members to be able to identify where the changes have been made. The Head of Environmental Health confirmed that this would be done for all future documents.

RESOLVED that, due to no substantive amendments being required, the Committee recommends to the Executive at its meeting of 7 March 2016 that the final draft Gambling Act 2005 Statement of Principles 2016-2019 (Appendix C of the report) be recommended by them for adoption by Full Council at its meeting of 28 April 2016.

To consider a report by the Head of Environmental Health, which gives a preliminary review of the Panel’s work programme for 2015/16 and draft work programme for 2016/17.

The Committee considered a report by the Head of Environmental Health on a review of the work programme 2015/16 and the draft work programme for 2016/17.

RESOLVED that the Committee:-

(a)  note the progress arising from the meeting of the Committee held on 17 November 2015, attached as Appendix A to the report; and

(b)  approve the work programme for 2015/16 attached as Appendix B to the report.