Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Paul Griffin and Jonathan Rush.

Councillor Waheed Raja declared a prejudicial interest in item 5 (Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Budget Review and Fees and Charges). Councillor Waheed Raja left the room prior to the commencement of the debate on this item and did not return or take part in the vote on this item.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2023.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 7 November 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

The Committee received a report on the Buckinghamshire Council draft Street Trading Consent Policy.  Prior to the formation of Buckinghamshire Council in April 2020, street trading was dealt with differently in each legacy district council area, using different application forms, processes, and fee levels. Since becoming a unitary authority, the licensing team had been working to consolidate records and develop working practices that were consistent across the new council area. There was currently no street trading consent policy covering the Buckinghamshire Council area. Whilst there was no statutory requirement for a policy under the legislation, it was considered appropriate to produce a single policy which sets out a clear and consistent framework for the Council’s approach to street trading. The adoption of a policy supported the Council’s commitment to transparency, fairness and openness when determining applications and ensuring compliance with the relevant legislation.

A pre-draft policy consultation exercise had been carried out and the results had helped shape Buckinghamshire Council’s first draft street trading consent policy. It was proposed that all streets in the Buckinghamshire Council area be designated as ‘consent’ streets. Subject to agreement by the Licensing Committee, the draft policy would be consulted upon widely for a period of 6 weeks. The results of the consultation would be reported back to the Licensing Committee for further consideration. The draft Street Trading Consent Policy (referred to onwards as “the Policy”) at Appendix 1 also provided guidance on the application processes and a brief overview of relevant legislation. The Policy provided an opportunity to outline matters which the Council would take into consideration when deciding whether to grant a street trading consent and it aimed to balance the needs of the public, traders, businesses, and the environment as well as supporting the Council’s Corporate Plan. The ability to determine where street trading could take place, the articles that might be sold and the way trading was conducted, could help to support other council plans in terms of how public spaces look, feel, and are used. The street trading regime could be used to promote healthy lifestyle choices and environmentally friendly activities. A well-planned street trading policy also presented an opportunity to support economic prosperity and areas with vibrant street trading activity were likely to benefit not only traders themselves but also other businesses within the vicinity.

The draft Policy was based on the recommendation that Full Council designates all streets in the authority’s area as ‘consent’ streets, should the Licensing Committee be minded to support this recommendation. This would mean that anyone wishing to trade in Buckinghamshire Council’s area would need to apply for a street trading consent unless one of the exceptions, as shown in 2.7 of the report, applied.

If approved by the Licensing Committee, and subject to any suggested amendments, the draft Policy would undergo a six-week public consultation with all relevant stakeholders notified, including current street trading consent holders and non-consent holders (where these could be identified), Ward, Town and Parish Councillors, Community Boards, Thames  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Committee received a report on the taxi and private hire licensing budget review and fees and charges and were asked to consider whether to approve the proposed fees and charges set out at Appendix A of the report prior to statutory advertising and consultation.

Taxi and private hire licensing fees could only be set at levels to recover such costs as were prescribed in law. The Council could not make a profit from licence fees and any shortfall in revenue, if not met by licence fee payers, must be borne by the Council as a whole. In practice, this meant that the costs of the Service should be covered entirely by taxi licensing fee income into the Council. Any surplus or deficit must be carried forward and form part of any subsequent review of fees.

In July 2021, taxi and private hire fees and charges were approved as part of the implementation of a new Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy for Buckinghamshire, which came into effect in September 2021. The Licensing Service also went through the Better Buckinghamshire programme in 2021 and new structures for a harmonised Licensing Service, organised by specialism rather than geographical location, came into effect from the 1 September 2021. This created a single taxi and private hire licensing service serving the whole of Buckinghamshire and operating under the new Policy. Assurances were provided to the Licensing Committee that a full annual review of taxi licensing budgets and fees and charge would be carried out a year into implementation of the new Policy. This would enable the service to fully understand any surplus or deficit at that point and ensure that any adjustments required could be considered. This review was carried out between September and December 2022 and showed an adverse forecast position for the 2022/23 period of £100k. The main reasons for this were a reduction of application income into the service as a result of the longer term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the alignment of legacy council licensing arrangements, which meant that licence holders who might have previously required more than one licence to work across Buckinghamshire, now only required one. 

A revised set of taxi and private hire licensing fees and charges were presented to the Committee in January 2023, which were set at such a level to return the service to a cost neutral position over the following three financial rolling years. These fees were approved for statutory advertisement and consultation purposes and were subsequently approved by the Committee in April 2023 for implementation. Given the uncertainties at the time around the wider economy and the national trends on taxi and private hire driver and vehicle numbers following the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was proposed that the taxi and private hire licensing budget position be reported again to the Committee in Q4 of 2023/24. This would provide the opportunity to ensure that the budget position was as anticipated at the time that the fees and charges  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

16 April 2024 at 6.30pm

It was noted that the date of the next meeting was 16 April 2024 at 6.30pm.