Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Clare Rendell Email: c.rendell@somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk 

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Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Chair

2.

Appointment of Vice-Chair

3.

Apologies

4.

Minutes of the previous meeting of the Licensing Committee pdf icon PDF 152 KB

5.

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.)

    Additional documents:

    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:-

     

    Name

    Minute No.

    Description of Interest

    Reason

    Action Taken

    Cllr M Barr

    All Items

    Wellington

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr P Bolton

    All Items

    Minehead

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr C Booth

    All Items

    Wellington and Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr S Coles

    All Items

    SCC & Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr C Ellis

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr Mrs Hill

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr S Lees

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr L Lisgo

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Lithgow

    All Items

    Wellington

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr J Lloyd

    All Items

    Wellington & Sampford Arundel

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr M Peters

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr F Smith-Roberts

    All Items

    Taunton Charter Trustee

    Personal

    Spoke

    Cllr R Tully

    All Items

    West Monkton

    Personal

    Spoke and Voted

    Cllr L Whetlor

    All Items

    Watchet

    Personal

    Spoke

     

6.

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.

     

    Temporary measures during the Coronavirus Pandemic

    Due to the Government guidance on measures to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), we will holding meetings in a virtual manner which will be live webcast on our website. Members of the public will still be able to register to speak and ask questions, which will then be read out by the Governance and Democracy Case Manager during Public Question Time and will either be answered by the Chair of the Committee, or the relevant Portfolio Holder, or be followed up with a written response.

    Additional documents:

    Minutes:

    No members of the public had requested to speak on any item on the agenda.

7.

Licensing Quarterly Update Report pdf icon PDF 421 KB

    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:-

    ·         Councillors queried how many dog litters a breeder had to have before they were required to be licensed.

    The Licensing Specialist advised that he thought it was three litters within a twelve month period or if they had a litter as part of a business activity, but he would check and report back to the Committee.

    ·         Councillors queried what had the overall impact been of the covid pandemic on the taxi trade.

    The Licensing Specialist advised that it was difficult to tell, he had seen how quiet the taxi rank located on Corporation Street had been and that it had been hard on the taxi trade.  He felt their frustration to get back to work, but some drivers were in the vulnerable category so had to shield and were unable to work.  He also sadly recognised that the business was not there due to the town centre being closed.  He did not have any specific numbers, but believed the impact had been hugely significant.  Some taxi drivers were looking to install screens in their vehicles and they would be guided by Somerset County Council.  He agreed that action was needed to assist the taxi trade to return to business.

    ·         Councillors queried the rules on data protection and whether the premises licence holder’s details had to be published in the public domain and whether that was compliant with the data protection rules.

    The Licensing Specialist advised that two documents were issued to licence holders.  One had the full details written on it, which was to be kept for their records and the other was a summary, which was the document to be displayed as that would not include their details.

    ·         Councillors queried how far officers had got with the work to amalgamate the previous councils taxi policies.

    The Licensing Specialist advised that sadly no progress had been made due to the covid pandemic and that he had also been involved in other work which included large scale complaints.  The work was still high on the list of priorities of work to be completed.

     

    Resolved that the Licensing Committee noted the report.