Chris Howell, Licensing Manager, presented a report asking Members to:

1. Approve the revised conditions for Private Hire Driver’s, Vehicle’s and Operator’s attached at Appendix B.
2. Note that the proposed amendments have been subject to a consultation exercise.
3. Note that seven responses were received and changes are shown in Appendix A.

The Licensing Manager explained the proposed revised conditions and confirmed why the proposed draft changes were necessary due to changes brought about by the recent onset of technology within the private hire trade and the intricacy of cross border hiring.

Members agreed to delegate authority to the Licensing Manager in consultation with the Chair of Licensing to make such grammatical changes as required but that do not alter the meaning of the condition.

The rewording of condition 10.1 was agreed.

Councillor Anwen Muston was concerned that all staff employed in a role where they interacted with members of the public would be subject to a Basic Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check and not an Advanced DBS check.

Sarah Hardwick, Senior Solicitor, explained that CWC were not legally allowed to request an ‘Enhanced’ DBS for operator staff.

The Licensing Manager advised Members that obtaining a Basic DBS was a good starting point and that staff had written to Government requesting that an online register of drivers be implemented.

Resolved:

That Members of the Licensing Committee:

1. Approved the revised conditions and implementation date for Private Hire Drivers, Vehicles and Operators attached at Appendix B.
2. Noted that the proposed amendments have been subject to a consultation exercise.
3. Noted that seven responses were received and changes are shown in Appendix A.