Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - County Hall. View directions

Contact: Heather Bowers 

Items
No. Item

1.

MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS OF REFERENCE

The committee is asked to note the following membership and terms of reference for the Licensing & Regulatory Committee which were agreed by Council on 04 May 2022.? 

 

15 Members (7:4:1 Ind Gp, 1 LD, 2 Min Gp)  

(same membership and chair/vice chair as Licensing Committee)  

  

Quorum – 4 

  

Chair: I. Hutchinson 

 Vice Chair: C. Humphrey 

  

Conservative 

Labour 

Independent Group 

Liberal Democrats 

Green Party 

Ind Non-Grouped 

J. Beynon 

B. Gallacher 

S. Lee 

A. Sharp 

M. Swinbank 

  

T. Cessford 

J. Foster 

  

  

  

  

E. Chicken 

K. Parry 

  

  

  

  

C. Hardy 

A. Wallace 

  

  

  

  

C. Humphrey 

  

  

  

  

  

I. Hutchinson 

  

  

  

  

  

C. Seymour 

  

  

  

  

  

  

Terms of Reference 

 

  1. Except where the matter is delegated either expresslyto the Head of Housing and Public Protection, or alternatively to officers in accordance with the Public Protection internal scheme of management,the Licensing and Regulatory Committee has the following delegated powers:- 

 

  1. to be responsible forlicensing matters relating to the following areas, including suspension and revocation of licences and applicationswhere there has been a refusal to grant, renew or vary a licence, or where there are relevant objections to grant, vary or renew:- 

 

(i) animal boarding establishments 

(xiii) sex establishments 

(ii) betting tracks 

(xiv) street collections 

(iii) dangerous wild animals 

(xv) street trading – prohibited areas 

(iv) dog breeding establishments 

(xvi) theatres and cinemas 

(v) game dealers 

(xvii) film classification 

(vi) hackney carriage drivers and proprietors  

(xviii) use of land as a caravan site 

(vii) hypnotism 

(xix) use of moveable dwellings and camping sites 

(viii) lotteries 

(xx) premises for acupuncture, tattooing, ear piercing and electrolysis 

(ix) motor salvage operators  

(xxi) safety certificates for sports grounds 

(x) pet shops 

(xxii) zoos 

(xi) pleasure boats and navigators 

(xxiii) knackers yards 

(xii) private hire vehicle drivers, proprietors and operators 

(xxiv) scrap metal 

  

(b)      to be responsible for any other licensing matters, including applications for licenses or registrations which are not delegated to any other body; 

(c)      to make recommendations on licensing policy; 

(d)      to make an order identifying a place as a designated public place for the purposes of police powers in relation to alcohol consumption; 

(e)      to make recommendations to full Council in respect of bye-laws, including making new, or amending or revoking existing bye-laws; 

(f)       to consider and respond on behalf of the Council to consultation exercises where it is appropriate to do so following agreement with the Chairman of the Committee.  

 

(2)      Where the Licensing and Regulatory Committee exercises the function of determining any application or similar matter, it may do so through a Sub Committee.

Minutes:

The Membership and Terms of Reference, as agreed by Council at the meeting on 4 May 2022, had been circulated for information.   

 

The Chair pointed out that the membership was currently with a vacancy for one member. 

 

RESOLVED that the Licensing & Regulatory membership and terms of reference, as agreed by Council on 4 May 2022, be noted.

 

 

2.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Beynon, Hardy, Parry and Swinbank.

 

 

3.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 95 KB

Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on Wednesday 9 March 2022, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee held on Wednesday 09 March 2022, as circulated be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

 

 

4.

SUB-COMMITTEE MINUTES pdf icon PDF 87 KB

To receive for information the following Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Subcommittees: 

 

17 March 2022

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Licensing and Regulatory Subcommittee held on 17 March 20221 be received for information.

 

 

5.

REPORTS OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING AND PUBLIC PROTECTION

6.

Hackney Carriage Tariff pdf icon PDF 113 KB

To update Members on the formal consultation that was undertaken with the Hackney Carriage Trade, on whether there should be changes to the current hackney carriage table of fares.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

05.1    Hackney Carriage Tariff  

 

Members were updated on the formal consultation that was undertaken with the Hackney Carriage Trade, on whether there should be changes to the current hackney carriage table of fares. 

 

Phil Soderquest, Head of Housing and Public Protection informed members that paragraph 14 of the report had been incomplete and this had since been amended. 

 

On 9 March 2022, the committee resolved to increase all 6 tariffs with an increase of 5%, to be reviewed in one year.  In accordance with the request of the Committee consultation had been undertaken with the trade. 

 

Mr Soderquest stressed that the requirement of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, was for an advert be placed in the local  newspaper of notification of the proposed increase to the trade with the invitation to comment.  The statutory requirement had been met and Licensing Services notified members of the trade of the proposed increase and invited them to comment, which was over and above the statutory requirement. 

 

The actual response to the consultation had been very limited, with five comments received. 

 

Additional information to consider would be shared with members of the committee. 

 

Some additional comments had been received following the closure of the consultation process and Mr Soderquest referred to an email from Berwick Taxi Association to members direct which would be included with the information circulated to members.  It had been disappointing that comments had not been received within the consultation period, and following a meeting with Berwick Taxi Association, comments had not been received.  However, it would be wrong to ignore the comments. 

 

In total, 8 consultation responses had been received from approximately 1000 individuals, which was a low consultation response. 

 

Members were asked if the number, quality and content of the representations was enough to modify the position, if not, the original recommendation could still proceed.  However, if members felt the representations were such to modify the position, that was up to members to decide.  Mr Soderquest pointed out that since the last committee, there had been a significant increase in the cost of living and fuel, and if the consultation had been carried out as of today, more responses might had been received.   

 

Mr Soderquest commented that previously there was no single trade body, or association which represented Northumberland as a whole and that it would be useful if there was such a body/association.  Many of the representations received had come from organisations which may have a geographic base with members from other parts of Northumberland but there was not one single monogenous organisation which represented the views of all in Northumberland.  The representations received had been from individuals or collectives which had made it challenging for the consultation exercise. 

 

In legal terms, members would agree the tariff at the meeting and the tariff would be the maximum that could be charged for journeys in a particular zone.  When the tariffs were set, the trade would set as they thought appropriate. 

 

All representations had been advocating  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.

Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 pdf icon PDF 101 KB

To notify members of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 and the statutory guidance.

Minutes:

05.2    Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety)  

Act 2022 

 

Members were notified of the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022 and the statutory guidance. 

 

RESOLVED that the report be noted. 

 

8.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory Committee will be Wednesday 24 August 2022.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the next meeting of the Licensing and Regulatory on Wednesday 24 August 2022, be noted.