Agenda and draft minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Lance Duddridge, Marcus Kravis, Martin Lovell, Mike Murphy and Tom Power.

To approve the minutes from the previous meeting.

Resolved that the minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on 11 April 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

To receive and note any declarations of interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.

(The other registrable interests of Councillors of Somerset Council, arising from membership of City, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes: City, Town & Parish Twin Hatters - Somerset Councillors 2023 ).

Councillorspresent atthe meetingdeclared thefollowing personalinterests in their capacity as a Councillor of a Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-

The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.

For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue.

We are now live webcasting most of our committee meetings and you are welcome to view and listen to the discussion. The link to each webcast will be available on the meeting webpage, please see details under ‘click here to join online meeting’.

There were no public questions submitted for the meeting.

To receive an update on the Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing functions.

The Licensing Manager, John Rendell, introduced the report which provided the Committee with an update on the Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing function.  He also detailed work being carried out to harmonise the predecessor councils taxi policies.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Councillors queried what the timeframes were for consolidating the policies.

The Licensing Manager advised that the draft policy document was currently being worked on and he was hopeful that it should be ready for consultation before the end of the year.

·       Councillors queried whether there would be a proposed percentage of accessible vehicles set within the policy.

The Licensing Manager highlighted that each former district council had different rules for accessible vehicles.  He suggested that work was carried out on harmonising the policies first and then he could focus on work on accessibility rules as that would require further detailed consultation with taxi users. He further highlighted work that was being carried out to improve and promote the details held on the Equality Register.

·       Councillors raised concern on section 3.10 of the report which proposed that training for taxi drivers was carried out by an external provider and would be online only.  The reasons why the concern had been raised was due to a recent Regulatory Sub-Committee. Councillors suggested that the best working practice should be to hold the training face to face and be provided by council officers.

The Licensing Manager advised that work on the policy was still in progress and that he was happy to take feedback on these areas.

·       Councillors queried whether officers carried out mechanical checks on vehicles.

The Licensing Manager confirmed that checks were still carried out but there was reliance on the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the Police and that they were infrequent in nature.  He also encouraged members of the public to report any concerns they had on taxi vehicles.

·       Councillors thanked officers for their work on the policy.

Resolved that the Licensing and Regulatory Committee noted the report.

The Licensing and Regulatory Committee are asked to note the minutes of the Sub-Committees.

Resolved that the Licensing and Regulatory Committee noted the minutes of the Sub-Committee meetings as attached in the agenda.