Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - 3rd Floor - Civic Centre. View directions

Contact: Linda Banbury, Democratic Support Officer  Email: linda.banbury@wolverhampton.gov.uk Tel:01902 555040

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for absence

Minutes:

An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Patricia Patten.

2.

Declarations of interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

3.

Minutes of previous meetings pdf icon PDF 57 KB

(a) To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2014.

 

(b) To approve and adopt the minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee held on 26 March, 2, 16 and 30 April 2014

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Resolved:

 

(a) That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 March 2014 be approved as a correct record.

 

(b) That the minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee held on 26 March, 2, 16 and 30 April be approved as a correct record and adopted.

 

4.

Matters arising

Minutes:

Pursuant to minute 4 of the meeting of the Committee on 26 March 2014, Colin Parr referred to incidents in the city centre over the last year caused by tensions between hackney carriage drivers. These incidents had led to three revocations of licences and subsequent appeals to the magistrates’ court.  Two appeals had been deferred, one suspension appeal dismissed and a further appeal hearing was pending.  The Licensing Sub-Committee had revoked and refused to renew a private hire vehicle operator’s licence; the subsequent appeal had been dismissed in the Magistrates’ Court and was due to be heard in the Crown Court.  He further reported that issues of driver conduct had been discussed at the hackney carriage and private hire working groups.

 

Pursuant to minute 8 of the meeting of the Committee on 26 March 2014, Colin Parr advised that feedback from the police indicated that licensees in the City Centre had promoted responsible working practices during the relaxation of the of licensing hours agreed for the period of the FIFA World Cup 2014.

5.

Schedule of outstanding minutes pdf icon PDF 43 KB

Minutes:

A report was submitted, which detailed outstanding items for consideration by the Committee.  Linda Banbury advised that item 5 (Scrap Metal Dealers Act) should be withdrawn as the progress report had been considered at the previous meeting.

 

Resolved:

            That the report be received.

6.

Review of decision making 2014/15 pdf icon PDF 157 KB

To endorse and approve the proposed decision making process and delegations in relation to category 2 and 3 decision making to the Strategic Director for Education and Enterprise.

Minutes:

Colin Parr presented a report, which sought endorsement and approval of a proposed decision making process and delegations in relation to category 2 and 3 decision making to the Strategic Director for Education and Enterprise. He referred to the decision tracking report, providing a summary of issues considered by the Licensing Committee during the 2012/13 municipal year which was presented in May 2013 and advised that a similar report would be produced for the 2013/14 municipal year. 

 

Resolved:

            (a) That the proposed decision making process and proposed

            delegations in relation to category 2 and 3 decision making powers to

            the Strategic Director for Education and Enterprise be endorsed and

            approved.

 

            (b) That annual delegation update reports be presented at the

            beginning of each municipal year.

 

 

7.

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicle testing at VOSA registered garages pdf icon PDF 61 KB

To make permanent the current pilot scheme relating to the use of VOSA garages for and to agree the payment of an approval fee   

Minutes:

Elaine Moreton presented a report, which informed the Committee of the impact of the twelve month pilot scheme relating to the testing arrangements for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles at Council approved VOSA registered garages. The report sought approval to making the pilot scheme permanent and extension of the approval fee for existing garages until 31 March 2015.  It was noted that VOSA’s compliance and enforcement division was responsible for carrying out any checks on the garages and would inform Licensing should the Green status of any of the establishments come into question.

 

Resolved:

            (a) That the twelve month pilot scheme relating to testing arrangements

            for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles at VOSA registered

            garages, adopted by the Licensing Committee on 17 April 2013, be

            made permanent.

 

            (b) That payment of an approval fee to the Council for the existing

            garages registered be extended until 31 March 2015 and included in

            the 2015/16 fees and charges report.

 

            (c) That the list of Council approved MOT testing stations for hackney

            carriage and private hire vehicles be emailed to the Licensing

            Committee members.

 

 

 

8.

City centre street trading designation of licensed streets pdf icon PDF 57 KB

To approve commencement of the statutory process to designate the streets within the ring road of the city centre as licensed street

Minutes:

Colin Parr presented a report, which sought approval to commence the statutory process to designate the streets within the ring road of the city centre as licensed streets rather than consented streets for the purpose of street trading.  A further report would be presented at the end of the 28 day consultation period requesting the Licensing Committee to recommend full Council to adopt the resolution for the new street trading process, subject to any variations of the draft proposals as a result of the consultation process.  This proposal formed part of the bigger picture for the city centre strategy and consideration would be given in the future to extending these street trading proposals to other areas of Wolverhampton.

 

Resolved:

            (a) That approval be given to the commencement of the process to re-

            designate the streets within the ring road of Wolverhampton city centre  

as licensed streets for the purpose of street trading.

 

            (b) That approval be given to the commencement of the process to

           rescinding the existing designation relating to consent streets within

           Wolverhampton city centre ring road for the purpose of street trading.

 

(c) That a notice be published in a local newspaper containing the draft   resolution on the proposed designations.

 

(d) That a further report be presented at the end of the consultation period.