Agenda and minutes

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2016 (to be laid on the table half an hour before the meeting).

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 September 2016 were confirmed and signed.

To receive apologies for absence and to report any substitutions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Patricia Ellis, Robert Knowles and Bob Upton. There were no substitutes present.

To receive from members declarations of interest in relation to any items included on the agenda for this meeting, in accordance with the Waverley Code of Local Government Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no items to report under this heading.

The purpose of this report is to enable the Council to consider comments on the five year review of the Policy for Sexual Entertainment Venues for Waverley, against which applications for licences under Schedule 3 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act, as amended by section 27 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 are considered. 

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Licensing and Regulatory Committee:

1.         considers the report and any comments received in response to          the consultation on the proposed Policy for Sexual Entertainment Venues; and

2.         recommends the Policy, with or without further amendment, to              Council for approval, the new Policy to be effective from 1    January 2017.

The Committee received a report reviewing the Policy for Sexual Entertainment Venues for Waverley, against which applications for licences under Schedule 3 of the Local Government Miscellaneous Provisions Act, as amended by section 27 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 act would be considered. The Committee was asked to consider some amendments to the Policy and any comments received in response to the consultation.

The Committee was reminded that the Policy was adopted in February 2012 and came into effect on 1 May 2012. The review period for the policy was at least every 5years. The Committee noted that Waverley did not currently have any Sexual Entertainment Venues. Although the existing Policy had not been called upon in the past five years, officers believed it was suitable and would work well if required.

The Committee therefore

RECOMMENDS that

2.         the Policy for Sexual Entertainment Venues, attached at Annexe 1, be approved by the Council, to be effective from 1 January 2017.

The background papers relating to the following items are as set out in the reports included in the original agenda papers.

The purpose of this report is to seek approval for the designation of a new taxi rank (stand) for two vehicles in Bridge Street, Godalming.

Recommendation

That the Committee recommend to the Executive that approval be given to the designation of a new 2-vehicle taxi stand in Bridge Street, Godalming and officers be authorised to undertake the formal process for designating the stand accordingly.

The Committee received a report seeking approval for the designation of a new taxi rank (stand) for two vehicles in Bridge Street, Godalming. This had been considered at its last meeting and since, a consultation had taken place. The Committee was asked to recommend to the Executive that approval be given to the new stand and officers be authorised to undertake the formal process for designating the stand accordingly.

The Committee noted that of the 287 taxi vehicle licences issued by the Council, it was estimated that approximately 80 licensees operated in the Godalming Area. Members were advised that historically there had been repeated requests from drivers in the area for an additional taxi rank in the town centre vicinity and most recently, a petition. The matter had been referred to the SCC Waverley Local Committee’s Godalming, Milford and Witley Task Group which considered locations suggested by the Senior Engineer at Surrey County Council and the Road Safety and Traffic Managements Team of Surrey Police. The Task Group recommended that two bays should be situated on the cobbled area to the right-hand side of Bridge Street, but that they should be positioned in such a way that ease of loading/unloading for the Borough Hall users would not be impaired.

Since the last meeting, officers had researched whether there were any additional legal procedures required to ensure the validity of the taxi rank for the purposes of road traffic enforcement. The Road Traffic Regulation Order had been checked and provided the taxi rank was legally created, it would not contradict the No Waiting order; and hackney carriage drivers, provided they were positioned wholly within the stand, would not be liable for tickets if waiting on the rank.

Godalming Town Council had been consulted on the proposals and supported the location, provided that the start of the taxi rank was level with the main door to the Borough Hall for the reasons noted above.

The Committee noted that designation of a taxi rank was an Executive function so would need to go to the Executive. If approved, a public notice would be placed in the local papers for a period of 28 days and subject to no objections being received, the taxi stand would be effective on the date of expiry of the consultation period. It was estimated that this would be around 6 January 2017.

The Committee was delighted that a new taxi rank would be situated in a location convenient for shoppers and RESOLVED that it be recommended to the Executive that approval be given to the designation of a new 2-vehicle taxi stand in bridge street, Godalming and officers be authorised to undertake the formal process for designating the stand accordingly.

The purpose of this report is to seek the Committee’s approval for the schedule of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Fees and Charges for 2017/18 as part of the Budget process.  There is a requirement for the fees and charges for taxi licensing to be advertised in the press and therefore this report is coming to you earlier than usual to enable this to be completed in advance of the budget process and to allow the fees to be implemented with effect from 1 April 2017.  A full report on the proposed budget for 2017/18 will be presented to your next meeting in January 2017. 

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Committee approves the level of Fees and Charges for 2017/18 for Taxi Licensing in accordance with the schedule at Annexe 1 to enable the public advertisement of the fees and charges to be progressed in advance of the usual budget process.

The Committee received a report seeking approval of the schedule of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Fees and Charges for 2017/18. The Committee was informed that the report was coming to them earlier than usual to enable the agreed fees and charges to be advertised and to go through the budget process for implementation with effect from 1 April 2017 without a delay.

The Committee was advised that in most years the proposed increase to taxi licences had been less than the guideline of 3.5% but this year there was no clear percentage increase. A comprehensive review had been carried out to ensure that every fee could be broken down and justified as a true reflection of the time and processes required to administer each of the licences.

The Committee received a schedule of the proposed Licensing Fees and Charges. There were a number of new fees proposed that responded to service demands, including changes of address and reissuing of licences. It was also proposed that the charging structure for Operator Licences should be more fairly applied depending on the size of the business and the number of vehicles they operated.

The Committee queried the New driver fee increasing from £150 in 2016/17 to £262 in 2017/18. Officers advised that this reflected the licence now being issued for 3-years, rather than for 1-year. The Committee noted that the fee for Surrender and Replacement to a new vehicle had reduced from £83 to £82, and was advised that the £83 fee in 2016/17 had been an error and it was being corrected in the schedule for 2017/18.

The Committee also asked how Waverley’s charges would compare with neighbouring boroughs. Officers advised that the sector report that collated this data was being updated and would be available for the next Committee meeting.

RESOLVED that the Committee approves the level of Fees and Charges for 2017/18 for Taxi Licensing in accordance with the schedule attached to the report to enable the public advertisement of the fees and charges to be progressed in advance of the budget process. 

To note the Minutes of the Meeting of the Licensing (General Purposes) Sub-Committee held on 22 September 2016.

The minutes of the Licensing (General Purposes) Sub-Committee which took place on 22 September 2016 were noted.