Agenda and minutes

The Clerk welcomed everyone to the meeting and read the safety information.

Apologies were received from Councillor Amal Ali, Chris Davies, Tessa Fitzjohn and Katja Hornchen.

None received.

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

RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meeting 8 June 2021 be agreed as a correct record.

Up to 30 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 by5 pm on Wednesday 21 July.

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 26 July.

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.

Not required.

The Licensing Manager and Senior Licensing Officer drew the Committee’s attention to the proposed changes to Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver and Vehicle policies and it was agreed that the main changes be considered on an individual basis before moving to the recommendations.

1.         Introduction of a mandatory card and other instantaneous payment facilities in Hackney carriages

-           This had been requested by the trade.

-           The facilities would only need to be in the vehicle when in use.

-           The trade was unlikely to be disadvantaged by connectivity issues as it was likely that this would only be temporary.

AGREED

2.         Tints

-           Officers had not made a recommendation on whether or not the policy should be amended to relax the ban on tinted windows and asked the committee to determine.

-           An Equalities Impact Assessment concluded there was a balance between groups with protected characteristics who may be disadvantaged by a change in policy and those who may be advantaged.

-           The cost of getting tinted windows replaced with clear glass was approximately £1.5k.

Members concluded that as the remit of the committee was public safety and protection, and there was some flexibility in the policy to apply for an exemption, there should be no change to the existing standard.

AGREED that no changes be made to existing policies in relation to tinted windows.

3.         New requirements relating to basic disclosures for all vehicle proprietors

AGREED

4.         New requirement – English proficiency

-           The Council would have the right to require applicants and licence holders to undertake and pass a test of their language proficiency which would cover both oral and written English language skills

-           This was in line with national standards to ensure that licence holders could understand and therefore comply with conditions as well as communicate effectively with customers.

-           The test would be for those applying for licence holders and existing licence holders would only be referred if a complaint had been raised.

In agreeing this, Members asked that equalities data be collected and reviewed for everyone referred to the service.

5.         Strengthening of convictions policy

-           This would be in line with national standards which in some cases resulted in an increase in the number of years an applicant would be prevented from holding a licence after being convicted for an offence.

-           The justification for the increase was that licence holders undertook an important public service often involving vulnerable people and sensitive information.

-           Officers were also recommending keeping part of the current policy which was not included in the national standards.

Following questioning by Members it was noted that a safeguard was in place in the event of an officer taking a decision under delegated authority which may not be in line with the view of the Committee Chair, whereby an applicant whose application was refused could appeal.  The Licensing Manager also confirmed that he would consult the Chair as a matter of course and had not previously been in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

That under s.100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded

from the meeting for detailed discussion of the preceding item of business (if

required) on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt

information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of schedule 12A of the Act.

Not required.