Agenda and minutes

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 13^th Janaury 2020.

The Minutes of the last meeting had already been agreed by Full Council but were noted by the Committee.

To receive apologies for absence and to report any substitutions

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Peter Clarke who had been called away at the last minute, therefore no substitute had been appointed.

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.

 No Declarations of Interest had been submitted for the items in the meeting.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from members of the public in accordance with Procedure Rule 10. 

The deadline for submission of written questions for this meeting is Monday 22^nd June 2020

No questions from members of the public had been received for this meeting.

The Chairman to respond to any questions received from Members in accordance with Procedure Rule 11.

The deadline for submission of written questions for this meeting is Monday 22^nd June 2020

No questions from members had been received for this meeting.

To receive any action taken by the Executive Director after consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman since the last meeting.

No actions had been authorised that required noting.

Following a meeting with the Chair and Vice Chair of Licensing and in line with IoL and LGA advice as well as the letter to the Chair of Licensing Committee of 8 April 2020 from Kit Malthouse MP - to consider and agree that it would be pragmatic and flexible to delay the below review processes as result of uncertainty and issues arising from the Covid 19 pandemic and to continue to review and progress this work once a level of normality has returned.

It is proposed that;

·         Hackney carriage/Private Hire Policy review – continue to pause and review again in 6 months

·         Hackney carriage/Private Hire Policy Fare Review  – pause the review with  fares to remain as they are currently and with a further review in six months’ time.

·         Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Licence Fees – cancel the proposed Hackney carriage/Private Hire increase to Licence Fees (as businesses are likely to be disrupted as a result of the impact of Covid-19)

Recommendation

For the Licensing and Regulatory committee to consider and agree the proposals above.

Paul Hughes outlined the proposal set out in the agenda.

The committee AGREED that it would be pragmatic and flexible to delay the following review processes as result of uncertainty and issues arising from the Covid 19 pandemic and to continue to review and progress this work once a level of normality has returned.

·         Hackney carriage/Private Hire Policy review – continue to pause and review again in 6 months

·         Hackney carriage/Private Hire Policy Fare Review  – pause the review with  fares to remain as they are currently and with a further review in six months’ time.

·         Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Licence Fees – cancel the proposed Hackney carriage/Private Hire increase to Licence Fees (as businesses are likely to be disrupted as a result of the impact of Covid-19)

To outline the process for the review of the Street Trading Policy and seek authority to proceed with the review as outlined in Annexe 2 of the report

Richard Homewood, Head of Environmental & Regulatory Services presented the agenda report and the request for the committee to authorise the start of a public consultation on the review of the Street Trading Policy.

There had been a rise in complaints about street trading and it was therefore proposed to make all streets that were not already prohibited for street trading as consent for trading streets.  This would mean traders would only be able to trade there if they had applied for and received consent.

The committee was advised that when an application for consent was submitted, notifications would go out to the ward councillors and the town or parish as well as to residents in the immediate area for comments to be submitted.  Conditions could then be imposed on the consent if necessary.

The committee was also advised for information that the Business and Planning Bill was scheduled to go through the Commons shortly on Pavement Licensing.  This related to different legislation than for Street Trading.

The Committee AGREED to the proposal to go out to consultation on the revised Street Trading Policy.