Members of the Committee are asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests, in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

Members of the Committee were asked to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non pecuniary interests in connection with any application on the agenda and state the nature of the interest.

No such declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2013.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2013 be approved.

The Acting Director of Law, HR and Asset Management updated Members in respect of the current situation regarding funding for Private Hire and Hackney Carriage training and sought Members’ approval to amend the current training requirement.

Mr T Thornton, Manager of Merseylearn attended the meeting and advised Members that the NVQ and VRQ qualifications were both level two national qualifications and it was therefore difficult to obtain funding for both of these qualifications.  Mr Thornton agreed with the proposal that the requirement for licensed drivers to obtain the VRQ qualification within 12 months of being issued with a licence be removed.

Mr Thornton and the Licensing Manager responded to questions from Members of the Committee.

It was moved by Councillor S Niblock and seconded by Councillor E Boult that -

“the requirement that all new applicants for Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Driver Licences must obtain the Level 2 National Vocational Qualification in Road Passenger Vehicle Transport (NVQ) within 12 months of being issued with a licence be removed with immediate effect”.

Resolved - That the requirement that all new applicants for Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Driver Licences must obtain the Level 2 National Vocational Qualification in Road Passenger Vehicle Transport (NVQ) within 12 months of being issued with a licence be removed with immediate effect.

The Acting Director of Law, HR and Asset Management sought Members’ authorisation for officers to consult Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Driver, Vehicle and Operator licence holders and members of the public in respect of a review of the medical requirements for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers.

It was proposed that the consultation would take place over a six week period and that the results of the consultation would be reported to a future meeting of this Committee.

The Licensing Manager outlined the report and responded to questions from Members of the Committee. 

It was moved by Councillor S Niblock and seconded by Councillor L Fraser that -

“Members authorise officers to undertake consultation on the options set out in paragraph 3 of the report regarding the medical requirement for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers”.

Resolved - That Members authorise officers to undertake consultation on the options set out in paragraph 3 of the report regarding the medical requirement for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers.