To receive apologies for absence from Members.  

Councillor D Owen

Councillor J lewis

Councillor G Thomas

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008.

None

To receive for approval the minutes of the 22/05/2018

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting of the 22/05/2018 as a true and accurate record.

To be accompanied by a presentation

The Licensing Policy Officer presented a report which outlined details of the Welsh Government Proposals for the licensing of taxis and asked the Committee to authorise the Head of Shared Regulatory Services to respond to the consultation regarding taxi licensing.

He advised Members that he would take them through a presentation which broke down the details of the current proposals that are listed in section 3 and 4 of the report.

He took members through the section 3 of the report which gave some background on the current situation. He explained that as a result of consultations undertaken by the Law Commission from 2011-2014, and a Welsh Government consultation in 2017, the Welsh Government are considering proposals to reform the taxi and private hire licensing regime in Wales.

He then explained what key issues the Welsh Government have attributed with the current licensing policy. He explained that inconsistent standards across each local authority meant that there were different standards for quality among vehicles as well as the cost that is charged depending on which local authority the taxi was from.

He also explained the issue of enforcement, which he noted to Members that there was currently no statutory mechanism for enforcement in place for vehicles licensed in a different authority.

He also described the issues of safeguarding, which he noted to Members that currently there is no information sharing among authorities with regards to the licensing of taxi drivers. This poses a threat to members of the public as a taxi drivers’ licence could be revoked in one authority, however that doesn’t stop that driver obtaining a licence from another authority.

A Member commented on the issues explaining that they are valid issues to be concerned with and agreed that they needed to be acted on in some way.

The Licensing Policy Officer went on to explain the current proposals and informed Members that while they are in the early stages, they are being put forward for Members to give their views.

Option 1 –

• To implement national standards including driver standards and vehicle standards, as well as a national database of information.
• To redirect existing licensing functions regarding Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles from the 22 local authorities to 1 joint licensing authority.
•  

Option 2 –

• To implement national standards including driver standards and vehicle standards.
• To have a more rigorous enforcement system where a drivers licence can be revoked by any licensing authority if there is a need to, regardless of where the driver had been licensed originally.
• To have a centralised database drivers details of their licence being revoked can be accessed across all 22 local authorities in Wales.
• To retain Licensing functions within local authorities.

Members expressed their concerns with Option 1 stating that it was a drastic change from the current system.

A Member stated that while he believed Option 1 to be easier and possibly more efficient in the long term, the short and medium term may be a huge adjustment and cause  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

To consider any other item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in accordance with Rule 4 of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

None