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BABERGH DISTRICT COUNCIL LICENSING AND APPEALS COMMITTEE
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE LICENSING AND APPEALS COMMITTEE HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNCIL OFFICES, CORKS LANE, HADLEIGH ON THURSDAY 7 JANUARY 2010
PRESENT: Mr B L Lazenby - Chairman
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Mr D G Grutchfield
Mr P J Holbrook |
Mr B Riley |
The following Members were unable to be present: Mr J R B Cave, Mr L S Johnson, Mr J R A Sayers, Mr R C Smith, Mr R W Thake, Mr A J Ward, Mr G S White and Mr L H Young.
1 - Declaration of Interests
2 - Minutes
3 - Petitions
4 - Questions from Members
5 - Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing - Fee Review 2010/11
None declared.
RESOLVED
That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 November 2009 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
None received.
None received.
Members had before them the report of the Head of Natural and Built Environment (Paper J149), which accompanied the agenda, together with Consultation Details which were circulated at the commencement of the meeting. The Consultation Details included the full text of the thirteen written responses received from trade consultees, 123 of whom were consulted on an individual basis. Members noted that no responses were received to the public notice which was published in the East Anglian Daily Times on 30 November 2009.
Prior to the presentation of Paper J149 by the Principal Licensing Officer, Members were given the opportunity to read the Consultation Details document, and took into account the information supplied during their consideration of Paper J149 and when making their decision.
During his presentation, Mr Carvell referred to the legislation stipulating the requirements for fixing the start date for any increase in fees, which would need to be changed from the original date of 1 April 2010 referred to in paragraph 2.1 of Paper J149 due to the objections received to the advertised proposed increases. He also referred to comparative data for fee levels in nearby Districts outside Suffolk, and to the difficulties of making direct comparisons between the figures in Appendix 2 to the report. In the course of the debate, Members requested that the officers continue to research comparative information for circulation to Committee Members, and in conjunction with Members’ recommendation to Strategy Committee.
Members were aware that the outcome of their discussions would be progressed through the current SFP/Budget process. Following reference to their earlier consideration of fee levels and the need for all reasonable costs associated with the provision of the service to be recovered, they accepted that charges should be increased to meet the deficit for 2010/11 of £14,000, (excluding any corporate recharge figure) as identified after completion of the rigorous examination approved at the meeting on 12 November 2009.
In response to questions from Members, the Principal Licensing Officer gave details relating to numbers of vehicles/drivers in various categories of operator and outlined feedback from his section’s regular contact with the trade. Members noted, from the proposals in Appendix 1, the extent to which fee levels had moved from the original ‘flat rate’ and the logical progression of this process towards a ‘per vehicle’ cost for operator licences in due course. As a result of consideration of the issues raised, and taking into account the formal consultation responses, it was agreed that some minor amendment should be made to the proposals in order to assist the smaller operators to remain as competitive as possible, particularly in relation to operators in neighbouring Districts. It was therefore moved that a minimal increase should be applied to those PHV operators having only one vehicle with the shortfall being made up by adjustments to the fees payable by operators in the 7-9 and 10+ categories. A complete list of the recommended fee levels is attached as an Appendix to this Minute.
RECOMMENDED TO STRATEGY COMMITTEE
That, having taken into account the responses to the consultation exercise, the fees for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing be increased in accordance with the proposed fee levels shown in emboldened type in Column 3 – Proposed 2010/11 – of Appendix 1 to Paper J149, subject to the following items being amended as indicated below:-
Operator (1 vehicle) £130 (instead of £140)
Operator (7-9 vehicles) £305 (instead of £290)
Operator (10+ vehicles) £365 (instead of £340)
Further, that the operative date for the fee increases be set at 2 April 2010 or such other date as is compliant with Section 70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.
The business of the meeting was concluded at 10.20 a.m.
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Chairman
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