There were no apologies for absence.

There were no Substitute Members.

Councillor Cuming was in attendance.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Parvin be elected Chairman for the Municipal Year 2012/13.

RESOLVED: That Councillor Yates be elected Vice Chairman for the Municipal Year 2012/13.

There were no disclosures of lobbying.

RESOLVED: That the items on the Agenda be taken in public as proposed.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 22 March 2012 be approved as a correct record and signed.

RESOLVED: That the Political Group Spokespersons be appointed as follows:-

Conservative – Councillor Parvin

Liberal Democrat – Councillor Mrs Joy

Independent – Councillor Mrs Gooch

There were no issues raised, although Mr Conyan indicated his wish to speak on Agenda Item 12 – the Law Commission Consultation Paper on Reforming the Law of Taxi and Private Hire Services - which was agreed by the Chairman.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Democratic Services regarding the Law Commission Consultation Paper on Reforming the Law of Taxi and Private Hire Services.

Mr Conyan was invited to speak by the Chairman and he informed the Committee that the National Taxi Association will be responding to the consultation paper and that the feeling amongst the taxi association around the country is that the decision on hackney carriage numbers is  best left at local level.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted and that the Head of Democratic Services report back to the next meeting of the Committee with a detailed draft response to the Law Commission’s Consultation Paper on Reforming the Law of Taxi and Private Hire Services.

The Interim Licensing Partnership Manager updated the Committee on the progress of the Licensing Partnership.

Income for the financial year 2011/12 was £25,000 over budget for Maidstone and £93,000 across the partnership.

Application levels – Temporary Event Notices (“TENs”) (which must be turned around within 3 working days) were 144 in April and 212 in May across the partnership.  There have been 107 received so far for June.  In April, Personal Licences – 20, Premises Licences – 6, 1 variation, 30 variations to DPS and 52 taxi applications.

The Committee were informed that due to the high volume, the partnership is struggling to meet the performance indicators, however, a member of staff in Maidstone has increased their hours by 17 per week to help the administrative team in Sevenoaks and a further new member of staff (20 hrs per week) is due to start in Sevenoaks to help with the backlog.

The Interim Licensing Partnership Manager informed the Committee that she will attend future meetings to report on any issues and the progress on the performance indicators.  The whole of the Licensing Partnership officer team will be meeting in July.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

The Chairman agreed that the Head of Democratic Services could bring an urgent oral report to the Committee regarding fees for rowing boats and other small types of boats on the river.

The Head of Democratic Services explained to the Committee that it was expected that a licence application will soon be received for the use of rowing boats, very small motorised boats and pedalos on the river.  The Council has a policy for pleasure boats and this covers, very effectively, the use of these types of boats on the river.  However, the only fee currently in place is for skippered pleasure boats for up to 12 passengers at a cost of £120.

The Head of Democratic Services felt that this fee was inappropriate for the smaller types of pleasure boats and, having investigated fees charged by other Councils, recommended a fee of £25 per boat per annum.

RESOLVED: That a fee of £25 per boat per annum be charged for rowing boats, small motorised boats and pedalos for use on the river.

6.30 p.m. to 7.35 p.m.