Following the resignation of Patrick Sellar from the Council, the Chairman expressed his appreciation of the long and hard work that he had done for the Council through the work on this Committee. 

RESOLVED: That the Chairman writes to Patrick Sellar on behalf of the Committee and the Taxi Association thanking him for his work on the Committee and wishing him a long and happy retirement.

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no Substitute Members.

Councillor Mortimer indicated his wish to speak on Agenda Item 9 – Training for Licensing Committee.

In the absence of a Vice Chairman due to Councillor Sellar’s resignation and the need to have this position filled due to requirements to consult the post holder on a number of matters, it was

RESOLVED: That Councillor Mrs Gibson be elected Vice Chairman for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2010/11.

There were no disclosures by Members or Officers.

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 17 February 2011 be approved as a correct record and signed.

There had been no issues raised.

The Committee considered the report of the Head of Democratic Services outlining the rule set by the Council regarding training.

Members agreed that training of new Members and Substitute Members was very important and that current Members and Substitute Members must be updated regularly on changes of legislation and procedures and have refresher training on an annual basis.

Members felt that a basic induction session on Licensing would be useful for new Members and Substitute Members.

RESOLVED:

1.  That a basic induction session on Licensing be scheduled before the first meeting of the Committee in the new Municipal Year for new Members and Substitute Members and be open to any other Member to attend should they wish.

2.  That the following training for the Municipal Year 2011/12 be agreed:-

·  June – Licensing Act 2003 including sub-committee meetings

·  July – Street Trading and Sex Establishments

·  September – Taxi and Private Hire

·  October/November – Gambling Act 2005

3.  That new Members and new Substitute Members must attend all training as set out in 1 and 2 above for that Member to remain a Member in accordance with the rules set by Council.

4.  That existing Committee Members must attend at least 1 refresher training session per year and receive regular legislation/procedure update sessions.

5.  That any new Members or Substitute Members unable to attend any of the above training, with a valid reason, will have the opportunity to attend either sessions held by Sevenoaks or Tunbridge Wells Councils or have a 1to1 session with the Legal Officer.

Mr Parker (Private Hire trade representative) addressed the Committee.  He stated that he was in favour of a 3 year licence, but felt that the discount of 15% was not enough and that the fee was too high.

Mr Conyon (Hackney Carriage Association representative) also addressed the Committee.  He stated that he felt this issue would be better addressed when all the licensing administration goes to Sevenoaks.  He stated that the best practice was only “for guidance” and that paragraph 56 should also be taken into account.  He said that he is in favour of a 3 year licence but there are a number of issues that they are trying to deal with to help streamline the system and that it was more appropriate for this to be considered as part of a whole package when the administration goes to Sevenoaks.

The Committee were informed that the service is one where fees should be reasonable to meet the cost of the service and not be intended to be profit making.  However, due to the difficulties in knowing the levels of take-up in the trade, it was almost impossible to achieve a completely balanced trading account and it was always likely that there would be a small surplus or deficit in the account.  Additionally, the fluctuations in the number of licences issued meant that it was also difficult to assess accurately the right level of discount and that if there was an excessive surplus or deficit arising from the change the fees could be reviewed again.

The Committee considered that before they could make a decision, this required more detail on how the fee level for a 3 year licence had been determined..

RESOLVED:  That the report be deferred to the next meeting for further information to be provided with regard to the proposed fees.

6.30 p.m. to 7.47 p.m.