Issue - meetings
REVIEW OF LICENSING MATTERS
Meeting: 29/11/2012 - Performance Scrutiny Committee (Item 9)
9 REVIEW OF LICENSING MATTERS PDF 44 KB
To consider a report by the Head of Planning and Public Protection (copy attached) which details the review of taxi and private hire vehicles (PHV) licensing policies and procedures and advises on the reporting mechanism to Licensing Committee.
11.45 a.m.
Additional documents:
- Licence App 1, item 9 PDF 157 KB
- Licence App 2a, item 9 PDF 155 KB
- Licence App 2b, item 9 PDF 38 KB
- Licence App 3, item 9 PDF 37 KB
Minutes:
A
copy of a report by
the Head of Planning and Public Protection had been circulated with the
papers for the meeting which detailed the comprehensive
review of taxi and private hire vehicles (PHV) licensing policies and
procedures and advised on the reporting mechanism to the Licensing Committee.
The report was presented and summarised by the Head of Planning and Public Protection (HPPP) and the
Senior Licensing Officer (SLO). The HPPP
informed Members that the policies and procedures to
ensure appropriate control over taxis and PHVs were
being revised to provide for a robust taxi and PHV licensing system. The duties and responsibilities of the
Licensing Admin Team, who work in conjunction with a number of teams and
agencies, and details of the licensing system had been summarised
in the report. The Licensing Committee
consider and propose policy and make decisions as a quasi-judicial body on
individual applications, with a number of decisions being delegated to officers
or the Head of Service.
Taxi licensing was said to be a particularly complex area with
co-ordination and communication between service areas of the Council and
partner agencies integral to the safe operation of the system and to the
protection and safety of the public. The
Authority would continue to take robust action against operators and drivers
who were non-compliant and failed to meet the required standards. In order to ensure that the process was as
robust as possible a full review of the taxi licensing process had commenced
during 2012. Details of the project
management approach and the project proposal had been included in Appendix 1 to
the report.
Licensing Administration Officers, Enforcement Officers, Social
Services, Fleet Services, School Transport and North Wales Police had, as a
Group, identified areas for improved communication and achieved the desired
outcome of clarifying roles and responsibilities within the taxi licensing
process. This had been facilitated by
Internal Audit and revised processes were produced and circulated to the Group
for final agreement. The revised process
would be presented to the Head of Service and the Licensing Committee and had
been included as Appendix 2a. Further
work had been planned to review the scheme of delegation and areas of the
Constitution.
An update report would be presented to the Licensing Committee in
2013, and the work programme for the Licensing
Committee had been included as Appendix 3.
Members agreed that a review of the effectiveness of the revised
policies and procedures be undertaken later in 2013, and that an update report
be submitted to the Scrutiny Committee in September, 2013.
The SLO responded to questions
from Councillor D. Owens and provided details pertaining to the issuing and
renewal of taxi driver licenses and the importance of undertaking CRB
checks. She explained that licenses were
renewed annually and CRB checks undertaken every three years. The SLO stressed the importance of
interaction with other agencies and made particular reference to the
introduction of new processes which would require applicants to provide
declarations of any current or spent convictions. These processes would minimise any risks and
assist in improving an already robust system.
The following responses were
provided by the officers to questions submitted and issues raised by Members:-
- details
of the differentiation between hackney carriage and private hire vehicles was
provided by SLO.
- there
being less legislative control over taxi company proprietors than taxi drivers.
- confirmation
was provided that the Licensing Authority receives immediate notification of taxis
which had failed their MOT tests to ensure they were not utilised as taxis.
- in response to issues raised by Councillor G. Lloyd-Williams, the SLO provided details ... view the full minutes text for item 9