Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillors D Brook and J Duggan.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 14 February 2022.

The Committee considered the minutes of the meeting held on 14 February 2022.

RESOLVED:

To approve the minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 14 February 2022.

A copy of the Register of Interest for each Selby District Councillor is available for inspection at www.selby.gov.uk.

Councillors should declare to the meeting any disclosable pecuniary interest in any item of business on this agenda which is not already entered in their Register of Interests. Councillors should leave the meeting and take no further part in the consideration, discussion or vote on any matter in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Councillors should also declare any other interests. Having made the declaration, provided the other interest is not a disclosable pecuniary interest, the Councillor may stay in the meeting, speak and vote on that item of business.

If in doubt, Councillors are advised to seek advice from the Monitoring Officer.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The Chair informed the Committee that the Council was responsible for setting the tariff for the hackney carriage trade, which was in effect a price cap.  As Members were aware fuel costs had risen considerably in the last few weeks, and this was having a large impact on the taxi trade in Selby, particularly as there were no government grants available to help businesses with the cost of fuel.

Members noted that this issue was currently being investigated by officers, along with colleagues in North Yorkshire, through one of the workstreams for the local government reorganisation.

The Committee were advised that although the work was currently ongoing, any proposals would be reported to the Licensing Committee at a future meeting.

To receive the report, which asks the Committee to adopt the officer recommendations and endorse the proposed Selby Taxi Licensing Policy which incorporates the required changes following the review of the consultation responses received and recommend the same to the Executive and Council for adoption.

The Licensing Manager presented the report, which asked the Committee to adopt the officer recommendations, endorse the proposed Selby Taxi Licensing Policy, and recommend the same to Council for adoption, following a review of the Policy in response to the new Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards issued by the Department of Transport (DFT) in 2020.

Members heard that this was the first time that a taxi licencing statutory guidance document had been issued, with the standards setting out a range of robust measures to protect taxi and private hire vehicle passengers, particularly those considered to be most vulnerable.

It was explained that following a review of Selby’s current taxi licensing policy, officers found several proposals in the DFT’s Statutory Standards which were not already implemented in the current taxi licensing policy.  An initial consultation was held between the 12 July and 6 September 2021, and the Policy had been updated in draft form taking into consideration the consultation responses.

The Committee noted that the Executive had approved the draft Policy for public consultation in January 2022, and the consultation had been held between the 10 January and 21 February 2022, following which officers had reviewed the consultation responses received and updated the proposed policy accordingly. 

Members asked why there had only been two responses to the consultation, and if such a low number was normal. Officers believed that as a similar consultation had been undertaken in 2021, consultees understood that the updated policy simply reflected the government’s statutory standards, and as such, did not feel the need to respond. The number of responses were usually a little higher.

It was proposed, seconded and agreed by the Committee that the policy be adopted.

RESOLVED:

To adopt the Officer recommendations, endorse the proposed Selby Taxi Licensing Policy and recommend the policy to Executive for adoption.

Reason for decision:

Adoption of the revised policy and the measures within will support the statutory position, help to safeguard children, vulnerable adults, protect public safety; and ensure compliance with the expectations of the DFT.

To receive the report, which asks the Committee to consider and endorse the proposed Gambling Policy 2022.

The Licensing Manager presented the report, which asked the Committee to consider and endorse the proposed Gambling Policy.

The Committee was informed that the Council was required to review its Gambling Policy every three years, the current Gambling Policy had been adopted in 2019 therefore the Policy had been reviewed, and a consultation on the revised Policy had taken place between 10 January 2022 and 21 February 2022. 

Member’s attention was drawn to page 56 of the report which highlighted four updates to the proposed policy related to the population size of the district and the removal of section 7.7 as the Enforcement policy was currently under review.  At Appendix A to the report Merkur Slots had been added under the list of consultees; and finally, there had been a name change for the Police Licensing Officer.

The Committee discussed the importance of gambling awareness for young people and suggested that the Licensing Team could work with schools in the future to brief students on different aspects of gambling.

Officers noted the suggestion and explained that the Gambling Commission gave highly regulated advice, and the Council’s website contained links to organisations such as Gamble Aware.

It was proposed, seconded and agreed by the Committee to endorse the proposed policy.

RESOLVED:

The Committee considered and endorsed the proposed Gambling Policy.

Reason for decision:

The review of the Gambling Policy is a legislative requirement, failure to review the policy and follow the correct guidelines would leave decisions on gambling licensing open to legal challenge.