Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Val Evans.

There were no declarations of interest made.

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 29 March 2023 as a correct record].

Resolved:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Regulatory Committee held on 29 March 2023 be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

[To discuss any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting].

There were no matters arising.

[To approve the proposed Health and Safety Statutory Plan 2023 – 2024].

Emma Caddick, Service Manager – Environmental Health, presented the Health and Safety Statutory Plan 2023 – 2024 report, highlighting the key points. The Health and Safety Statutory Plan was a Statutory document that was required to be produced annually. The Plan outlined the priorities for the Service for the next 12 months and highlighted the key achievements for the previous year.

The report and Statutory Plan were considered by Committee.

The Service Manager responded to questions asked and it was agreed that a report on the regulation of cosmetic procedures would be presented at a future meeting.

Councillor Kaur moved the recommendations within the report and Councillor Brackenridge seconded the recommendations.

Resolved:

That Members of the Regulatory Committee:

1.    Approved the proposed Health and Safety Statutory Plan 2023 – 2024.

[To approve the proposed Street Trading Consent Fees].

Emma Caddick, Service Manager – Environmental Health, presented the

Review of Fees and Charges for Street Trading Consents report, highlighting the key points. The report outlined the proposed street trading consent fees and detailed the rationale behind the key changes.

The Service Manager noted that the fees had not altered in excess of eight years and explained how the proposed fees had been calculated. It was recognised that private land consent fees had increased significantly and therefore, a staged increase over a three year period had been proposed.

The report was considered by Committee, and the Service Manager and Chris Howell, Commercial Regulation Manager, responded to questions asked.

Members of the Committee welcomed the report; they acknowledged that the increase in fees was necessary and were happy with how the proposed fees had been calculated.

Councillor Brackenridge moved the recommendations within the report and Councillor Wildman seconded the recommendations.

Resolved:

That Members of the Regulatory Committee:

1. Approved the proposed Street Trading Consent Fees as set out in Appendix 1 of the report. That the new fees should be payable by new applicants immediately. All other changes for existing consent holders would come into force on 1st April 2024.
2. Approved the proposal to offer a staged increase to private land consent fees over a three-year period as outlined in section 4.3 of the report.

[To endorse and approve the proposed decision-making process and proposed delegations].

Greg Bickerdike, Licensing Manager presented the Review of Decision Making in 2022 - 2023 and the Scheme of Delegation for 2023 – 2024 report. The annual report provided a review of the decisions made over the last municipal year and set out the proposed decision-making process and delegations for the forthcoming year.

It was noted that the number of deferrals, suspensions and no further action had increased significantly last year, and the Licensing Manager explained that the increase was due to payment issues with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Update Service. Members were advised that the Council had written to the DBS to lobby for Direct Debit payments; however, the response had been that this facility was not planned.

The report was considered by Committee, and Councillor Zee Russell, Chair of the Regulatory Committee, advised Members she had written a letter regarding the DBS payment issues and it would be sent to the Home Office. It was agreed that a copy of the letter would be circulated to Regulatory Committee members.

Following further consideration of the report, in particular the size of the appendices, it was agreed that for future reports a summary of the decisions made would be sufficient.

Councillor Kaur moved the recommendations within the report and Councillor Wildman seconded the recommendations.

Resolved:

That Members of the Regulatory Committee:

1. Endorsed and approved the proposals in section 2 of the report relating to category 2 decisions.
2. Endorsed and approved the proposals in section 2 of the report relating to category 3 decisions.
3. Delegated category 3 decision making powers to the Director of Resident Services.
4. Agreed to receive further annual delegation update reports at the beginning of each municipal year.
5. Noted the schedule attached at Appendix 1 to the report which included further proposed delegations from the Director of Resident Services.
6. Noted the schedule of employee decisions for 2022 - 2023 attached at Appendix 2 to the report in relation to new hackney carriage and private hire applications.
7. Noted the schedule of employee decisions for 2022 - 2023 attached at Appendix 3 to the report in relation to hackney carriage and private hire reviews.
8. Noted the schedule of decisions for 2022 - 2023 attached at Appendix 4 to the report in relation Magistrates and Crown Court appeals.