Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - Wallasey Town Hall

Contact: Anne Beauchamp  Committee Officer

Items
No. Item

10.

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.

11.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting held on 24 May and the special meeting held on 18 July 2018.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 May 2018 and the special meeting held on 18 July 2018 be approved.

12.

MINUTES OF THE LICENSING PANEL pdf icon PDF 88 KB

To approve the accuracy of the minutes of the Licensing Panels held on 8 June, 13 July and 10 August 2018.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved – That the minutes of the Licensing Panels held on 8 June, 13 July and 10 August 2018 be approved.

13.

REVIEW OF HACKNEY CARRIAGE FARES pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director for Business Management reported upon the representations received in respect of a proposed increase to the Hackney Carriage fare tariff advertised in accordance with the decision of this Committee on 18 July 2018.

 

Members were advised that the last increase of hackney carriage fares was in February 2017 when the initial hiring distance on tariff 1 (standard day rate) was reduced.  All other tariffs and distances remained unchanged.  Further to a proposal to increase the hackney carriage fare tariff on 18 July 2018, Members resolved that the proposal be approved subject to any objections being received as part of the consultation process.

 

The Licensing Manager reported that the proposed increase had been advertised for a period of fourteen days and a newsletter had been sent to every hackney carriage and private hire driver, vehicle and operator licence holder informing them of the proposal.

 

Members were advised that during the consultation period, two representations had been received supporting the proposal, two objecting and one expressing general concerns.  A table comparing the current and proposed rates was attached to the report together with the representations received.

 

Mr D Cummins, Unite the Union addressed the Committee and requested that the proposal be accepted by Members in its entirety as there had been no increase in seven years and no waiting time increase since 2002.

 

On a motion by Councillor R Abbey and seconded by Councillor A Hodson, it was -

 

Resolved – That the proposed increase to the Hackney Carriage fare tariff be approved and the new table of fares be in force as from 1 November 2018.

14.

INDEPENDENT SURVEY OF THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR HACKNEY CARRIAGE VEHICLES IN WIRRAL pdf icon PDF 114 KB

Minutes:

The Corporate Director for Business Management sought Members’ views in respect of undertaking a consultation exercise further to two options that had been set out in the final recommendations of the report produced by CTS Traffic and Transportation Ltd on their Independent Survey of the Supply and Demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles.

 

The Licensing Manager outlined the report and advised that on 23 January 2012 this Committee imposed a limit of 289 on the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences issued following the recommendations of an independent survey to ascertain the demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles at that time subsequent to a period of 10 years of the Council operating a Policy of no limit.

 

Members were informed that an independent survey of the supply and demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles in Wirral had been undertaken during 2017 by CTS Traffic and Transportation Ltd and the findings of the survey were reported to a meeting of this Committee on 1 February 2018 where the conclusions and recommendations were noted and it was resolved that Members have regard to the report when determining any future policies in respect of Private Hire and Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences.  The report acknowledged that there were licences available as there were currently 258 vehicles licensed and went on to say that ‘this means current plate values are low or non-existent as anyone wanting a plate could have one.’

 

The report stated that neither keeping nor removing the limit appears to provide any impact on the current issues identified by the review and that there was no significant unmet demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles.  The report presented two options within its final recommendations:

 

·  The Committee is able to continue with the policy of limiting hackney carriage vehicle numbers if it wishes and this could be defended if necessary.

 

·  The Committee could also remove the limit policy in order to allow further future development of the fleet when required.

 

It was therefore proposed that a consultation exercise be undertaken with the public and relevant stakeholders in respect of the two options presented.

 

Derek Cummins, Unite the Union, addressed the Committee.  He referred to the survey that had been undertaken and believed that it would not be necessary to undertake a further consultation exercise. 

 

On a motion by Councillor I Lewis and seconded by Councillor R Abbey, it was -

 

Resolved –

 

(1)  That due to the fact that the Independent Survey of the Supply and Demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles had incorporated a consultation exercise, no further consultation exercise was necessary to be undertaken in respect of the two options set out in the final recommendations of the report produced by CTS Traffic and Transportation Ltd.

 

(2)  That the current policy limiting the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences to 289 continue to remain in place.

15.

DRAFT SEXUAL ENTERTAINMENT VENUE POLICY AND STANDARD CONDITIONS pdf icon PDF 109 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Corporate Director for Business Management sought Members’ approval of the draft Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy.  Members were also asked to approve standard conditions to be placed on all Sexual Entertainment Venue Licences.

 

The Licensing Manager outlined the report and Members were advised that on 24 May 2018 this Committee approved a draft Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy which then went out for consultation.  The consultation closed on 6 July 2018 and comments had been received from Merseyside Police who requested to be consulted in respect of specific applications and from an applicant who currently had an application pending for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence which the comments related directly to.

 

The draft Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy and draft Standard Conditions were attached to the report.  Members were advised that each application would be considered on its own merits and it was a matter for this Committer whether to delegate any applications to the Licensing Panel.

 

On a motion by Councillor R Abbey and seconded by Councillor D Mitchell it was –

 

Resolved –

 

(1)  That the draft Sexual Entertainment Venue Policy and Standard Conditions be approved.

 

(2)  That all applications for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence be referred to the Licensing Panel for determination.