Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest made at the meeting.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the previous meeting held on 25^th February, 2022.

Resolved:-  That the minutes be received and the contents noted.

Consideration was given to the report, presented by the Licensing Manager, which provided detailed performance in relation to the Licensing Team’s performance against the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Performance Framework for April-November, 2022, as well as an overview of the general performance of the Service.

The report also sought the views of the Board on the House to House Collection Policy and Sex Establishment Policy both of which were due for formal review in 2023.

The Licensing Manager guided the Licensing Board through the detail in the report and provided further information on the areas of:-

·            The number of unannounced inspections of vehicles and drivers and the percentage of taxis found to be compliant with the licensing regime during on the spot inspections

·            Performance against the Licensing Service Performance Management Framework

·            The performance of the Council’s Licensing Team in relation to quality assurance and administrative aspects of the Service

The submitted report provided details in the appendices of the performance against the Licensing Performance Management Framework for and Enforcement Data for 1st April-31^st November, 2022, which was implemented to address the concerns raised in Louise Casey’s report.

The report provided a summary of enforcement action that had taken place between April and November, 2022 including details of actions taken by Enforcement Officers along with enforcement actions taken by other officers within the Licensing Service and the outcomes of Licensing Board Sub-Committee hearings.  It highlighted:-

-        68 vehicles and drivers had been inspected since 1^st April, 2022, of which 96% of vehicles (65) and 100% of drivers were found to be compliant with licensing requirements. 

-        The vehicle non-compliance related to a missing licence plate, an absence of a first aid kit and malfunctioning taxi camera system.  The licence plate and first aid kit were rectified within 48 hours and the camera issue resolved within 2 working days

-        Targets had been set against 16 performance measures of which 2 were off target

-        There were an additional 4 measures that were being monitored but no target set

-        Between April and November, 2022, 5 appeals had been listed for consideration by the Magistrates Court in relation to decisions made by Licensing Officers and/or the Licensing Board Sub-Committee.  One of the appeals had been withdrawn by the appellant prior to the hearing, one appeal was discharged by way of a Consent Order, 2 appeals were successfully defended by the Council and the remaining appeal was not successfully defended by the Council

-        Recruitment was a continuing issue with a vacancies for a Senior Licensing Enforcement Officer and Licensing Enforcement Officer (2 posts).  Interviews were to take place shortly for a licensing Support Officer

-        Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy was due for renewal in 2023

During discussion on the report and supporting appendices the following issues were clarified:-

·        Due to the ageing taxi camera systems more frequent problems may arise

·        Information sharing with partners, in particular South Yorkshire Police, did take place despite low attendance at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.