Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Wallasey Town Hall

Contact: Anne Beauchamp  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

22.

MEMBERS' CODE OF CONDUCT - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

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.

Minutes:

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.

23.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 69 KB

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 25 January 2017.

Minutes:

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 25 January 2017 be approved.

24.

TRIBUTE TO COUNCILLOR DENISE ROBERTS

Minutes:

The Chair referred to the recent death of Councillor Denise Roberts.  The Chair, together with Councillors A Hodson and D Mitchell, spokespersons of the Committee, paid tribute to her memory.

25.

APPOINTMENT TO THE LICENSING PANEL

Councillor Denise Roberts sadly passed away on 8 February, 2017. As a result, a vacancy has arisen for an appointment to be made to the Licensing Panel.

 

Minutes:

The Committee were invited to appoint to the vacancy that had arisen on the Licensing Panel.

 

Resolved – That Councillor Chris Meaden be appointed to the Licensing Panel.

26.

HACKNEY CARRIAGE VEHICLE LICENCES pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Managing Director for Delivery updated Members regarding the current position relating to the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences that were available to receive applications and requested that Members consider a revised allocation procedure for allocating Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences.

 

The Licensing Manager referred to the limit of 289 on the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences that could be issued by the Council which had been imposed by this Committee on 23 January 2012 and that a random selection process was currently used for the allocation of available licences.

 

Members were advised that the current process of allocating licences costs approximately £600 and results in a very low number of applications being received, far less than the number of licences available.  It was therefore proposed that the Council maintain a notice on the Council’s website advising the public of the number of licences that were available at any one time and that licences were subsequently issued to applicants that met the criteria for licensing Hackney Carriage Vehicles.  Also that should the Council receive a greater number of applications than the number of licences available at any one time, the applications would be referred to the Licensing Panel where they would be allocated through a random selection process.

 

It was moved by Councillor D Mitchell and seconded by Councillor P Stuart that –

 

“The revised allocation procedure for allocating available Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences as set out within Appendix 2 of the report be approved.”

 

Resolved – That the revised allocation procedure for allocating available Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences as set out within Appendix 2 of the report be approved.

27.

PERIODIC REVIEW OF LICENSING FEES FOR TAXIS AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Managing Director for Delivery requested that Members review and approve the licence fees in respect of Hackney Carriage, Private Hire and Operators Licences with effect from 1 May 2017.  It was reported that the fees must be reviewed on an annual basis to determine whether the income received for the previous year had been in line with the cost of delivering the service.

 

The Licensing Manager reported that the annual review of the fees for Hackney Carriage, Private Hire and Operator Licences had been undertaken and it had been identified that the projected income received for the financial year 2016-2017 would not cover the costs of delivering the service.

 

It was also reported that further to a review of the licensing budget for 2016-2017 in respect of the expenditure and income relating to the issue and administration of licences for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles, Drivers and Operators, had identified a projected deficit of income against expenditure.  In addition there would be a 1% increase in staffing costs in 2017-2018.

 

The Licensing Manager referred to Appendix 1 of the report which set out the proposed fees which were considered appropriate to recover the administration and associated costs of the service.

 

It was moved by Councillor A Hodson and seconded by Councillor D Mitchell that –

 

That the licence fees in respect of Hackney Carriage, Private Hire and Operator Licences as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved with effect from 1 May 2017 subject to any objections being received as part of the consultation process.”

 

Resolved – That the licence fees in respect of Hackney Carriage, Private Hire and Operator Licences as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved with effect from 1 May 2017 subject to any objections being received as part of the consultation process.

28.

PERIODIC REVIEW OF LICENSING FEES FOR MARRIAGE PREMISES LICENCES pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Minutes:

The Managing Director for Delivery requested that Members review and approve the licence fees in respect of Marriage Premises with effect from 1 April 2017.

 

The Licensing Manager reported that the Council were legally entitled to charge such a fee for licences that they considered reasonable with a view to recovering the full cost of providing the service.

 

It was reported that the current fee for a Marriage Premises Licence was £370 which had been set following a review in 2015.  The Licensing Manager advised that any review of this fee had not taken into consideration the full potential cost to the service of issuing this type of licence.  The details of what could be included in the cost were outlined and Members were advised that a full cost review had been undertaken which included consideration that from April 2017 the licensing function would be subject to a 1% increase in staffing costs.  Members were therefore requested to approve an increase in the licensing fee for Marriage Premises to £970 to reflect the average cost of the administration of the licence and other associated costs.

 

It was moved by Councillor G Watt and seconded by Councillor D Mitchell that –

 

the Marriage Premises Licence fee of £970 be approved with effect from 1 April 2017.”

 

Resolved – That the Marriage Premises Licence fee of £970 be approved with effect from 1 April 2017.

29.

PERIODIC REVIEW OF LICENSING FEES SEXUAL ENTERTAINMENT VENUE LICENCES pdf icon PDF 105 KB

Minutes:

The Managing Director for Delivery requested that Members review and approve the licence fee in respect of Sexual Entertainment Venue Licences with effect from 1 April 2017.

 

The Licensing Manager reported that the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 enabled the authority to charge the applicant for the grant, renewal or transfer of a licence, a “reasonable fee” and that all costs of providing the service should be included in the fee so that there would be no subsidisation by council tax payers.

 

The Licensing Manager reported that the current application fee and renewal fee for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence was £1,226 and that further to a review of the costs of administering this process and ensuring compliance had been undertaken, it had been identified that the licensing function would be subject a 1% increase in staffing costs.  Members were therefore requested to approve an increase in the licensing fee for Sexual Entertainment Venues to £1240 to reflect the increase in this cost of the administration.

 

It was moved by Councillor A Hodson and seconded by Councillor P Stuart that –

 

“The Sexual Entertainment Venue fee of £1240 be approved with effect from 1 April 2017.”

 

Resolved – That the Sexual Entertainment Venue fee of £1240 be approved with effect from 1 April 2017.