Agenda and minutes

Apologies were given from Cllrs Baum, Griffin, Jones, Rush, Towns and Wallace.

The Principal Committee and Governance Services Officer reported (in the Chairman’s absence) that the Chairman had confirmed that Cllr Dominic Barnes be appointed Vice-Chairman for the Licensing Committee for the ensuing year. Cllr Dominic Barnes chaired the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd February and 18 May 2022

The Minutes of the Meetings held on 2^nd February and 18 May 2022 were agreed as a correct record subject to the inclusion of Cllr Barnes and Southworth under Members present.

A Member highlighted the estimated figure of 1200 problem gamblers in Buckinghamshire and queried how the Council intended to respond. The Cabinet Member agreed to discuss this with officers and to see how Buckinghamshire compared to other local authorities and what action was being taken in relation to the Council’s policy.

The Licensing Committee received a report on the regulation of cosmetic piercing and skin-colouring businesses. The Environmental Health Manager reported that the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 enabled local authorities to charge reasonable fees for the registration of persons carrying out the business of skin piercing and the premises in which these activities took place.  The fee covered the initial inspection(s) associated with registration, checking training qualifications and competency of the operator, advising the business about the requirements of the byelaws and best practice, and associated administration.   Currently there were different registration charging structures across the legacy areas and approval was sought for the adoption of a common charging policy.

Members noted the following points:-

·       Benchmarking with neighbouring authorities showed similar disparities in charging structures.

·       There was no statutory requirement for public consultation when setting fees under the Act and it was for this Committee to agree these fees.  Fees should be set at a level to ensure full cost recovery whilst also being fair and providing value for money for the businesses. Councils were required, however, to take a reasonable and proportionate approach and should aim to set a fee level that was sufficient to cover the cost but not make a surplus.

·       Fees should be reviewed on an annual basis, taking into account of any increase in the Retail Price Index (RPI) and where appropriate, an increase would be applied to the fees to recover related increased costs to the Council.

·       Since there was a disparity across the Buckinghamshire district in terms of the adoption of the registration provisions in the Act and the adoption of byelaws for cosmetic piercing and semi-permanent skin-colouring, work was currently taking place to allow a further report to  be presented recommending the provisions of sections 14 – 17 of the Act being adopted, to ensure harmonisation of registration provisions and that byelaws for cosmetic piercing (piercing of the body including the ear), semi-permanent skin-colouring including micro pigmentation, semi-permanent make-up and temporary tattooing, electrolysis and acupuncture were made in accordance with the necessary procedures and for these to be confirmed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and that once confirmed, that the related existing legacy byelaws would be revoked.

The following application fees had been proposed:-

During discussion the following points were made:-

·       Confirmation was given that the Council was unable to make a surplus. The fees proposed were consistent with neighbouring authorities.

·       It would be helpful to have an idea of the number of businesses who might apply for this registration to gain an idea of total income.  In response it was noted that for 2021 there were applications for 11 operators and 72 premises. The income for that year was approximately £12,000. It would be difficult to compare as it was not a standard year but the budget would be monitored to ensure income covered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The Licensing Committee received an enforcement update on the implementation of the Council’s new hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy, (the “Policy”) in September 2021. The Licensing Service committed to provide routine reports to the Committee related to application of the Policy.   More specifically, the intention was to provide annual performance reports supplemented by quarterly reports on enforcement activities, the outcome of court proceedings and statistical data on licences issued. 

The Principal Licensing Officer reported that the introduction and implementation of the new Policy, together with the corresponding alignment of service provision across the former District Council’s controlled areas, had been a significant undertaking with many challenges.  Council officers and the local taxi and private hire trade have had to adjust to new procedures and ways of workings as a consequence of the policy changes.  Throughout this period, robust measures have remained in place to ensure that, in line with statutory and best practice guidance, only those considered fit and proper to hold licences were permitted to do so. 

The Principal Licensing Officer went through the report and the following points were highlighted: -

·       On 31st March 2022, 2059 vehicles were licensed with the Council. During the reference period the Council received 1553 licence applications for vehicle licences.  Of this figure, 486 applications were for new licences and 1067 were applications to renew existing licences.  22 of the refused vehicle applications relate to vehicles that failed to meet the Council’s Policy requirement.  Specifically, these applications were submitted for vehicles that had been deemed category S (structural) vehicle insurance write offs. In all instances, as was required, applicants were offered the opportunity to make representation before a final decision was taken. With respect to the rejected applications, applications were rejected for a variety of reasons but often because they were not complete and valid.  Where possible officers try to avoid rejecting applications and support was provided to help encourage applicants to submit valid applications.

·       On 31st March 2022, 3013 drivers were licensed with the Council.  During the reference period, the Council received 728 driver licence applications: 143 from new drivers and 585 from drivers applying to renew.   5 applications received during the period were refused on the basis that officers were not satisfied that the applicants could be considered fit and proper to be licensed with reasons such as driving without appropriate insurance, mobile phone conviction or failed to disclose licence refusal. 66 applications were attributable to applicants submitting multiple incomplete applications. 28 applications were referred to an officer for further investigation as issues of concern had arisen during the application process.

·       On 31st March 2022, 219 private hire vehicle operators were licensed with the Council.  During the reference period, the Council received 29 new and 43 renewal operator applications.  The 29 rejected applications were mainly attributable to applicants submitting multiple incomplete applications. 

·       In addition to determining applications, the Licensing Service regulates taxi and private hire operations through reactive and proactive activity.  Reactive work was typically in response to incident  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee received a report on Hackney Carriage Fares. Where tariffs were set by the local authority, drivers of hackney carriage vehicles (taxis) cannot charge more than the fare specified on the meter apart from in certain exceptional circumstances, although they could charge less. Section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 set out the process and requirements for the fixing of fares, which included the requirement for advertising and a statutory 14 day consultation period. The new Buckinghamshire Council Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy came into force on the 6th September 2021 and the Policy removed the previous legacy area hackney carriage zones thereby leaving one single operating zone. As a result, a new single set of hackney carriage tariffs was also implemented on the 6th September 2021 for all drivers of hackney carriage vehicles in Buckinghamshire.

Given that the new tariffs were implemented relatively recently, it was intended that the next review would take place in April 2023. However, given the significant recent increases in fuel prices, along with requests from the hackney carriage trade, it was considered appropriate and necessary to carry out a review now to ensure that drivers were able to earn a fair wage whilst also balancing the cost of any increase to passengers. This was an issue which was affecting authorities across the country with many local and national licensing authorities currently in the process of reviewing and increasing their hackney carriage tariffs as a result of recent trends in fuel prices.

In order to obtain the views of the hackney carriage trade as a whole and to clarify whether there was a consensus on the issue across the trade generally and also in different Council areas, officers carried out a short pre-engagement survey in May 2022 which asked specific questions on whether or not each of the tariffs should be increased and the reasons for the answers provided. 57 responses were received which reflected a broadly similar response rate across the previous legacy areas with 7 responses received from the Aylesbury area, 16 from the Chiltern area, 15 from South Bucks and 11 from the Wycombe area. It was not possible to confirm in which area the remainder had previously been licensed.

The majority (96%) of those responding were in favour of an increase to Tariff 1 and only 3 of the responses were against this proposal. The responses in relation to Tariff 2 were less conclusive with only 49% in favour of an increase. Similarly, only 45% of the responses were in favour of an increase to the current Tariff 3.  The reasons given for the need to increase tariffs were mainly due to the increased cost of fuel but increased maintenance costs and the rises in the cost of living generally were also mentioned.

Work was currently being carried out with the meter companies to establish the best means of increasing Tariff 1 in a manner which was fair to both drivers and passengers. The Principal Licensing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Tuesday 26 July 2022 at 6.30pm

26 July 2022 at 6.30pm (changed from 21 July on calendar)