Agenda and minutes

Apologies received from Cllr Lucy Whittle.

None received.

To confirm as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting on 16 February 2021 are agreed as a correct record.

Up to 10 minutes is allowed for this item

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on Wednesday 14 April.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on Monday 19 April.

Please note, your time allocated to speak may have to be strictly limited if there are a lot of submissions. This may be as short as one minute.

None received.

Recommended – that having regard to the quasi-judicial nature of the business on the Agenda, those Committee Procedure Rules relating to the moving of

motions and the rules of debate (CMR10 and 11) be suspended for the duration

of the meeting.

RESOLVED – that having regard to the quasi-judicial nature of the business on the Agenda, those Committee Procedure Rules relating to the moving of motions and the rules of debate (CMR10 and 11) be suspended for the duration of the meeting.

Recommended – that under Section 11A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972

the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the ground that involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1of Schedule 12A to the Act, as amended.

RESOLVED – that under Section 11A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the ground that involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, as amended.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report and drew attention to the following:

·        This is an application for a Private Hire Vehicle License for a vehicle which is beyond 10 years of age. The applicant is asking for a 6 month extension for the vehicle.

·        The policy is to only licence vehicles that are under 10 years old. This vehicle is 10 years 7 months old and was licenced for one year in error. Should not have gone past 1 Sep 2020.

·        February 2021 was the last time the vehicle undertook a condition check. If the committee was minded to approve, we would need new insurance documentation and another vehicle check. Officers recommend refusal.

The applicant gave the following evidence:

·       KS said that the report was correct, and the vehicle is over 10 years old, he applied for a licence as he is not currently working and would struggle to source a replacement vehicle.  

·       KS said he was advised by officers to undertake an MOT and then apply for the licence afterwards. He is insured for the vehicle.  

After questioning from the committee, the following information was confirmed:

·       KS understood that his vehicle was out of time in September 2020, but he has not been using the vehicle for a year due to Covid restrictions. He argued that it did not have the expected wear and tear.  

·       Licensing officers confirmed that they would not insist on an MOT before application, but it could be recommended as it gives officers and the committee an accurate assessment of the state of the vehicle.

·       The vehicle passed the MOT in February on first inspection with a small dent on the bodywork noted but no other issues.

·       KS only worked a small amount over the past year when the lockdown was temporarily lifted. He did not continue as there were not enough pickups to justify running costs. KS has been doing food and medicine deliveries to help others during lockdown.

Decision:

Members considered that KS’s vehicle had already been licensed for 7 months beyond its 10^th birthday. They had not been given any evidence to persuade them to depart from their policy and accordingly refused the application under Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 60(1)(c) “any other reasonable cause.”