Brighton & Hove City Council
Licensing Committee (Non Licensing Act 2003 Functions)
3.00pm 23 June 2022
Council Chamber, Hove Town
Hall,
Norton Road, Hove, BN3 3BQ - HTH/CC
MINUTES
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Present: Councillors John (Chair), Davis, Phillips, Ebel, Hills, Moonan, Henry, Fowler, Simson, & Lewry.
Apologies: Councillors Theobald, Knight, and Rainey.
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PART ONE
1 Procedural Business
(a) Declarations of Substitutes
1.1 Councillor Hills was present in substitution for Councillor Heley.
(b) Declarations of Interest
1.2 There were no declarations of interests in matters listed on the agenda.
(c) Exclusion of Press and Public
1.3 The Committee considered whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of any of the items listed on the agenda.
1.4 RESOLVED: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the items contained in part two of the agenda.
2 Minutes of the Previous Meeting
RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Licensing Committee (Non-Licensing Act 2003 Functions) Meeting held on 17 February be agreed and signed as a correct record.
3 Chair's Communications
Thank you all for being here today. We have an exceptionally short agenda of one report, so I will keep my Chairs comments just as short.
This is, as you know, my first committee as chair of Licencing and I am delighted to be able to take up the role as the previous chair, Cllr Deane is now Mayor Deane.
We all realise the circumstances to which this came about were difficult for some, but I am sure you will all agree that Cllr Deane will be and has already proved to be an excellent Mayor and I am sure we all wish her our best over the next year.
I am delighted to be joining a committee with such knowledge and experience, already proved to me by my attendance to a hearing panel this week. It is thanks to the skill and dedication in this room that contribute towards Brighton being a city for both residents and businesses to thrive in.
Despite coming out of lockdown, businesses including the taxi trade face huge challenges with the cost of living. I know just how vital the taxi trade is for the city, particularly as we move into our busy summer period, not just in keeping the city moving but also safeguarding the vulnerable and being the eyes and ears of the city.
The taxi licensing team play a key role facilitating and maintaining this and I welcome today’s paper, updating the committee on the monitoring and enforcement for the hackney carriage and private hire drivers in the city. I know this will be of great interest for all on the committee and I look forward to learning from both officers reporting and member discussion.
4 Callover
The following item was reserved for discussion:
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Item 7 |
Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Driver Enforcement and Monitoring |
5 Public Involvement
There was none.
6 Member Involvement
There were none.
7 Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Driver Enforcement and Monitoring
7.1 Alex Evans introduced the report starting on page 11 of the agenda.
7.2 Councillor Simson was informed that:
· There have been about 60 new licenses and relicenses since the 1 April 2022.
· Incidents of refusals to accept cash payments are being recorded in a spreadsheet, and then taxi drivers will be investigated to see when their license was issued, and appropriate action can be taken if necessary
· New taxis are being checked to ensure there have card readers.
· Taxi drivers indicate they only accept cash to refuse drunk or disorderly passengers.
· The build-up of taxis along the seafront by Burger King and Monarch is being monitored by Sussex Police and Licensing Enforcement Officers and are reporting back through the Taxi Forum.
· The driver at the bottom of the chart on page 18 of the agenda had his Licensing disqualified over lockdown but didn’t get it back in time due to delays at the DVLA. Once he had his license back, he was then sent for his taxi driver assessment.
· Warnings for taxi drivers are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and if it feels like training is appropriate for it they are sent for training. If the behaviour continues, then other enforcement action is looked at such as suspension or revocation.
· Instances of street trading enforcement will be brought to the Licensing Committee going forward.
7.3 Cllr Davis was informed that:
· The DVLA medical standard is set by the DVLA for public service vehicles.
· Most of the medical standards that stop people driving are temporary medical conditions such as having a stent fitted or fixing their eyesight.
· For out-of-town drivers that offend, all Brighton and Hove can do is issue a caution or prosecute, but for local drivers, there is more scope for different action such as warnings.
· If drivers are caught twice in a reasonable amount of time, then the issue is escalated.
7.4 Cllr Pissaridou was informed that a copy of the DVLA group 2 medical standard is available online, and that Martin Seymour would send a link.
RESOLVED:
1. That Members noted the contents of this report and that officers should continue to act as appropriate.
8 Items Referred For Council
There were none.
The meeting concluded at 15:18
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Signed
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Chairman |
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