To receive apologies for absence (to include reasons, where appropriate) from

Members/Officers.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor E Venables who was unwell

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 public Minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee of 23 October 2015, and 24 November 2015.

RESOLVED:                  That the public Minutes of meetings of the following Licensing Sub-Committees be approved as a true and accurate record:-

                                       23 October 2015

                                       24 November 2015

The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, which requested the Sub-Committee to consider an application to grant a licence for a Hackney Carriage Vehicle under the Council’s wheelchair accessible age policy.

Prior to considering the application, the Chairperson adjourned the meeting, in order that Members and Officers could inspect the vehicle which was situate in the Council Offices basement car park.

Upon their return, the Licensing and Registration Officer confirmed that the mileage of the vehicle was 80,795.

She then referred back to the application which was made by Peyton Travel Ltd to licence a Ford Transit vehicle registration number YR11 PZL as a hackney carriage vehicle accessible vehicle to seat 8 persons.

The vehicle was pre-owned and was first registered at the DVLA on 3 March 2011, and the applicant had provided a service history showing the vehicle was inspected on 9 May 2012 at 25,965 miles, 19 November 2013 at 48,863 miles and 24 January 2015 at 69,355 miles. The applicant had provided a certificate of testing from Swansea Coachworks Ltd in respect of a floor system for passenger seats and wheelchair.

The vehicle was submitted for consideration under the Council’s Hackney Carriage Vehicle Policy, and paragraph 4.3 of the report gave the Policy guidelines in respect of vehicles of this nature.

Mr Paul Brain then gave an account of what the vehicle would primarily be used for, ie for taking people, some of which were in wheelchairs (and the vehicle was wheelchair accessible) to Day Centres. Some of his fleet of vehicles were becoming older and therefore he was looking to replace these with newer vehicles. He also took people to the airport for their holiday flights or to cruise ships in Southampton.

The application had been referred to the Licensing Sub Committee for determination, due to the vehicle being over 3 years old.

Members following the consideration of the application,

RESOLVED:                     That the application made by Peyton Travel Ltd for the grant of a Licence for the above Hackney Carriage Vehicle under the Council’s wheelchair accessible vehicle age policy be granted, the Sub-Committee having determined that there were justifiable reasons to depart from its Licensing Policy in this instance.

The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report, requesting the Sub-Committee to consider an application to grant a licence for a Hackney Carriage Vehicle under the Council’s wheelchair accessible vehicle age policy.

Prior to considering the application, the Chairperson adjourned the meeting in order that members and Officers could inspect the vehicle that was situate in the basement car park of the Council Offices.

Upon reconvening the meeting, the Licensing and Registration Officer confirmed that the mileage of the vehicle was 107,607.

The Licensing and Registration Officer then referred to the report, and confirmed that the application had been made by Peyton Travel Ltd to licence a Ford Transit vehicle registration number PN62 CNF as a hackney carriage wheelchair accessible vehicle to seat 8 persons.

The vehicle was pre-owned and was first registered at the DVLA on 19 October 2012. The applicant had provided a service history showing that the vehicle was inspected on 21 October 2013 at 29,665 miles, 17 August 2014 at 61,397 miles, 24 February 2015 at 79,335 miles and 27 September 2015 at 92,110 miles. The applicant had provided a certificate of testing from Swansea Coachworks Ltd in respect of a floor system for passenger seats and wheelchair.

She added that the vehicle was being submitted for consideration under the Council’s Hackney Carriage Vehicle Policy, and paragraph 4.3 of the report gave an outline of the Council’s policy guidelines in respect of licensing vehicles of this nature.

Members, having considered the application,

RESOLVED:                     That the application made by Peyton Travel Ltd for the grant of a Licence for the above Hackney Carriage Vehicle under the Council’s wheelchair accessible vehicle age policy be granted, the Sub-Committee having determined that there were justifiable reasons to depart from its Licensing Policy in this instance.

The Assistant Chief Executive Legal and Regulatory Services submitted a report in order that Members could consider an application for the grant of a licence for a Hackney Carriage Vehicle, which fell outside the Council’s policy guidelines.

The Chairperson advised that the meeting should stand adjourned, in order that Members and Officers could inspect the vehicle which was situate in the basement car park of the Council Offices.

Upon returning to the meeting, the Licensing and Registration Officer confirmed that the vehicle mileage was 11,698.

She explained that the application was made by Forge Travel Ltd to licence a Hyundai 130 Tourer Este Car registration number EJ64 XJG as a hackney carriage vehicle to seat 4 persons. The date of first registration of the vehicle was 28 November 2014.

The applicant submitted the application on 23 December 2015. There were no supporting documents relating to maintenance, and the vehicle is not required to have undertaken an MOT test. The Licensing and Registration Officer further added, that the vehicle had not reached the mileage where a service was recommended, however, the current mileage was detailed above. She explained that the vehicle had had not received an MOT as it was not yet 3 years old, neither had it had a service, so there was no history of the vehicle available.

Finally, the Licensing and Registration Officer confirmed that the application fell outside the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Policy approved by the Licensing Committee, including the existing discretion to relax the hackney carriage age policy in respect of the vehicle.

The Licensing and Registration Officer referred to the Licensing Policy Guidelines as outlined in paragraph 4.4 of the report, and that provision 2.1 of the Policy was applicable in respect of this application.

Paragraph 2.2 of the Policy stated that applications for the first licensing of vehicles falling outside the above policy guidelines, would normally be refused, but a relaxation of the policy may be considered in exceptional circumstances.

She further added that the vehicle age policy, in conjunction with specifications and standards, has been developed to ensure public safety through the quality of the taxi fleet.

Mr Gareth Aimes who was present on behalf of Forge Travel Ltd, then responded to a number of routine questions from the Licensing and Registration Officer in respect of the type of vehicles subject of the application, and the scheme under which he leased these from Hyundai. He confirmed that the application had been submitted late, and outside the guidelines of the Policy, as there was a delay in delivery of the vehicles when they were being leased (as the whole fleet were from Hyundai) as opposed to when vehicles were purchased outright.

The Chairperson then asked Officers and the applicant to retire from the meeting, whilst the Sub-Committee considered the application. Upon their return, it was

RESOLVED:                  (1)   The Sub-Committee considered the application and the Council’s policy ie paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2.  The policy states that the first licensing of a Hackney Carriage or Private  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

The reports and minutes relating to the following items are not for publication as they

contain exempt information as defined in Paragraph 12 of Part 4 and/or Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information)(Variation)(Wales) Order 2007.

If following the application of the public interest test the Committee resolves pursuant to the Act to consider these items in private, the public will be excluded from the meeting during such consideration.

RESOLVED:               That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) (Wales) Order 2007, the public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business as they contain exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 12 of Part 4 and/or Paragraph 21 of Part 5 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

                        Following the application of the public interest test it was resolved that pursuant to the Act referred to above, to consider the following items in private, with the public excluded from the meeting, as it was considered that in all the circumstances relating to the items, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information, because the information would be prejudicial to the applicants.

Minute No.                 Summary of Items:

69                               Approval of Exempt Minutes

70                               Application for Renewal of Licence

71                               Application for Grant of New Licence

72                               Urgent Items

To receive for approval the exempt Minutes of meetings of the Licensing Sub Committee dated 24 November 2015

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