Agenda and minutes
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Contact: Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk
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Apologies
To receive any apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors P Bolton, L Lisgo and A Milne. |
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Minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing Committee
To approve the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee. Minutes: (Minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 24 June 2019 circulated with the agenda)
Resolved that the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 24 June 2019 be confirmed as a correct record.
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Declarations of Interest
To receive and note any declarations of disclosable pecuniary or prejudicial or personal interests in respect of any matters included on the agenda for consideration at this meeting.
(The personal interests of Councillors and Clerks of Somerset County Council, Town or Parish Councils and other Local Authorities will automatically be recorded in the minutes.) Minutes: Members present at the meeting declared the following personal interests in their capacity as a Councillor or Clerk of a County, Town or Parish Council or any other Local Authority:-
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Public Participation
The Chair to advise the Committee of any items on which members of the public have requested to speak and advise those members of the public present of the details of the Council’s public participation scheme.
For those members of the public who have submitted any questions or statements, please note, a three minute time limit applies to each speaker and you will be asked to speak before Councillors debate the issue. Minutes: Mr Mike Davis spoke to the Committee in regards to tax evasion within the local taxi trade.
Dear Committee members,
A1 Ace Transport Services have for the last decade brought to the attention of the Council the widespread VAT evasion within the local taxi trade. The two prior Licensing Managers, Julia Braeburn and Ian Carter, had also introduced illegal policies which we had to fight, from pricing policies to overcharging of fees, both of which John Rendell could explain what happened to the policies and officers.
Last year the Licensing Department agreed to launch an investigation in to the illegal “competitive advantage” of our tax evading competitors. There was agreement that operators who were evading tax in this way were not “fit and proper” and therefore should not hold a license.
It seemed that the investigation had ground to a halt even though the Council had written to all operators, nothing would happen. On several levels this was wrong and if not followed through, it would leave the authority of the Council somewhat weakened in the eyes of those who flouted the law.
From our perspective the situation had reached the point where we were prepared to take the Council through a legal process for knowingly failing to operate the Licensing regime as laid out in the terms and conditions.
If we could not find a way forward, it would be the second time that we would take the Council through a legal process. The first being the illegal setting of fees, which ended up with the tax payer having to spend £20,000 on a National Audit Office investigation. In the report Taunton Deane Borough Council (TDBC) were found to be in denial as to the law and had not showed any speed in fixing their illegal position. His comment of ‘but for the tenacity of Mr Davis I was in no doubt that TDBC would still be setting fees illegally’ proved that I did not back down when I was sure of my position. James Button the well-known Licensing Lawyer had agreed to represent me should Somerset West and Taunton Council (SWT) not proceed with getting rid of operators who were clearly operating outside the law.
In short you knew operators were evading VAT payments and were not doing anything about it. There had been more than sufficient time to do something about it.
The Licensing Specialist responded with the following:-
The purpose of Licensing was the protection of the public. He explained that any member of the public stepping into a motor vehicle driven by a stranger, must be able to trust the driver. He highlighted: Were they honest? Were they competent? Were they safe? Were they trustworthy? As required by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, we must not grant a taxi or private hire driver licence unless we were satisfied that the applicant: · Had held a driving licence for a minimum of 12 months; · Had the right to work in the UK; and · Was a ... view the full minutes text for item 12. |
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Licensing Update Report
This report provides an update on the activities of the council’s licensing service, changes in licensing legislation and other licensing related matters. Additional documents: Minutes: During the discussion, the following points were raised:- · The Licensing Specialist advised the Committee that since the agenda had been published, he had recruited additional resource for the team on a temporary basis. · The Chair advised the Committee that she had requested a meeting with the Head of Customer, Case Manager Lead and Licensing Specialist to discuss resource within the team. She requested that if any of the Committee had any comments to be raised, to contact her and she would pass those on. Councillors supported the Chair and her request to meet with the Head of Customer to discuss resource and raised concern on the team’s workload. · Councillors requested that taxi licences were updated as a whole, as they had seen several badges that still had the old logos on them. They also queried whether vehicle door stickers could be included in the pack issued with the taxi badges. The Licensing Specialist reminded the Committee that he had compiled a work plan which included all the projects that were in the pipeline and how the work load had been prioritised. He further explained that there were two taxi regimes being operated within the District and that the work to amalgamate the two regimes was high on the list of project work to be carried out. He advised that he wanted to carry out the work in smaller sections as that would make the work easier to manage and ensure it was completed in a timely manner. · Councillors sympathised with the Licensing Specialist and agreed that the work needed to be carried out on joining the two taxi zones would take time and would require consultation with the taxi operators from across both zones to ensure that concerns were addressed. · Councillors queried what progress had been made on the request to licence a tuk tuk operator within the District. The Licensing Specialist advised that work had been done to see what other Councils had implemented through similar requests. He had concerns on how safe it would be to operate within the towns and advised that proper checks would need to be made. A new policy would also need to be written and brought back to Committee at a later date. · Councillors shared the concerns of the Licensing Specialist on the safety of tuk tuks and suggested that if a policy was written up for their use, then it should be for electric vehicles only.
Resolved: that the Committee noted the Licensing Update Report. |