Agenda and draft minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 4 October 2022, 22 May 2023 and 20 May 2024 as published.

Following a question by the Chairman relating to the minutes of the meeting held on 4 October 2022, it was noted that the fees levied by the Council were being reviewed and that this would not include the fares charged by drivers.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the Committee held on 4 October 2022, 22 May 2023 and 20 May 2024 be approved and signed as a true and correct record.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Steve Howes.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary and other interests from Members in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

To consider any business that the Chairman rules may be dealt with under Section 100B(4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no items of Urgent Business.

Reporting Persons – Amanda Francis and Laura McCulloch

Laura McCulloch introduced the report which formalised the procedures for the hearings relating to the Licensing Act 2003 and taxi matters and included the step by step process followed by the Licensing Sub-Committees for each type of hearing.  It was noted that a time limit of 15 minutes for the parties present being introduced and the process for when an expected party had not arrived by the start of the hearing. 

Following a question by Councillor Martin, it was noted that if a Councillor wished to ask a further question at the end of a hearing it would be subject to the discretion of the Chairman.

The Committee welcomed the paper and supported the additional recommendation that any amendments be delegated to the Strategic Director – Place in consultation with the Chairman and the Director of Democratic and Legal Services.

RESOLVED

That  (i)      the Sub-Committee procedure hearing notes attached as appendices A and B to the report be approved;

          (ii)     authority for amendments to the procedure notes be delegated to the Strategic Director – Place in consultation with the Chairman of the Licensing Committee and the Director of Democratic and Legal Services.

Reporting Person – Laura McCulloch

The Committee received a report which dealt with a question for the Committee relating to taxi licensing a company rather than a named person, following a Notice of Motion received by Council from Councillor Anila Javaid on 4 March 2023.  Taxi drivers sometimes used a courtesy car whilst their own car was being serviced or repaired.  The company would therefore assign a Woking licensed taxi driver to a vehicle without advising the Licensing department.

Laura McCulloch stated that enforcement was clearer if the policy remained that each licensed vehicle had a named driver in the event of complaints being received by members of the public, otherwise there would be a high workload for the licensing department in ascertaining who the driver was at the time of a complaint, for example if Penalty Points were required to be issued.

It was noted that local authorities across the County adopted differing approaches as the legislation referred to the ‘proprietor’ which could be a named person or a company.  Some issued vehicle licences in company names but with a policy that a named director or partner of the company had been DBS checked.

The committee was asked to note and accept the current practice of licensing vehicles only to named drivers in line with the Taxi Licensing Policy and it was suggested that this position be reviewed fully, with a comprehensive assessment of the impact of allowing a named company to permit unnamed drivers at the time of the next Taxi Licensing Policy review, expected in 2025.

The Committee broadly supported this approach, adding that the Council could maintain the policy in its current form and also ensure that the transfer process was as swift and simple as possible to assist those companies which provided courtesy vehicles to Woking licensed taxi drivers.

RESOLVED

         That the content of this report be noted and that this element of taxi licensing practice will be considered fully at the next review of the Taxi Licensing Policy, alongside ensuring the transfer policy was optimised to assist those companies which provided courtesy vehicles to Woking licensed taxi drivers.