To receive apologies for absence.

No apologies for absence were submitted at the meeting.

To receive details any details of Members nominated to attend the meeting in place of a Member of the Committee.

No named substitutes were appointed at the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest by Members in respect of items on the Agenda.

GUIDANCE ON DECLARING PERSONAL AND PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS AT MEETINGS

The Council’s Members’ Code of Conduct requires Councillors to declare against an Agenda item(s) the nature of an interest and whether the interest is personal or prejudicial.  Councillors have to decide first whether or not they have a personal interest in the matter under discussion.  They will then have to decide whether that personal interest is also prejudicial.

A personal interest is an interest that affects the Councillor more than most other people in the area.  People in the area include those who live, work or have property in the area of the Council.  Councillors will also have a personal interest if their partner, relative or a close friend, or an organisation that they or the member works for, is affected more than other people in the area.  If they do have a personal interest, they must declare it but can stay and take part and vote in the meeting. 

Whether an interest is prejudicial is a matter of judgement for each Councillor.  What Councillors have to do is ask themselves whether a member of the public – if he or she knew all the facts – would think that the Councillor’s interest was so important that their decision would be affected by it.  If a Councillor has a prejudicial interest then they must declare what that interest is and leave the meeting room.

There were no declarations of interest made at the meeting.

To approve and sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 August 2008.

RESOLVED:            That the Minutes of the meeting held on 12th August, 2008 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Arising on Minute 32 (Increase in Hackney Carriage Fares) the Licensing Manager said that the proposals had been advertised and that no objections had been received so far. The closing date was midnight on 10th September.

Arising on Minute 35 (Application to reinstate expired vehicle licence) the Licensing Manager said that the policy issues involved were under investigation and that they would be the subject of a report to a future meeting of the Committee.

To note the procedural arrangements for the meeting.

The Committee noted the procedural arrangements for hearing appeals to ensure that the laws of natural justice were followed to give a fair hearing to the applicants

To consider application made by Mr Ali to renew a vehicle licence contrary to standard licence condition number 9.5.

A report was presented by the Licensing Officer about an application for the re-instatement of a hackney carriage vehicle licence outside the Councils policies.  He said that Mr Ali’s licence had expired on 12th July, 2008 and that he had applied to renew it on 24th July.  The policy for renewal stated that “All applications received after the date of expiry will be treated as Grants and not renewals and the appropriate conditions and fees will apply”.  Mr Ahmed, acting on behalf of Mr Ali, said that he had been a few days late with his application due to being out of the Country and had suffered a period of Illness on his return.  He had subsequently attempted to renew his licence as soon as he could. 

Having considered all the circumstances regarding the application, the Committee was satisfied with Mr Ahmed’s explanation and agreed that Mr Ali’s application could be treated as a renewal and not a new application.  He was urged to deal with his renewals in a timelier manner in the future however.

RESOLVED THAT:

An application from Mr S Ali to deviate from the standard condition number 9.5, in respect of plate No.H313 for a Peugeot 406 be accepted and granted as a renewal.

To consider application made by Mr Maddy to renew a vehicle licence contrary to standard licence condition number 9.5.

A report was presented by the Licensing Officer about an application for the re-instatement of a hackney carriage hire vehicle licence outside the Councils policies.  He said that Mr Maddy’s licence had been suspended on 21st December 2007 in line with the blanket suspension of licences for vehicles which had been converted from vans into mini buses.  At that time Mr Maddy had been advised that he would have to obtain a VOSA Single Vehicle Enhanced Approval Test for the vehicle.  Mr Maddy had submitted his application for renewal in June and the matter had gone to the next meeting of the Committee but been deferred because there were certain issues to resolved. 

Mr Maddy explained that it had been a lengthy and complicated process for him to meet the new requirements of the Council regarding his converted minibus.  He had needed to replace some of the seating and anchor points to comply with the requirements of the VOSA test.  The Licensing Officer said that Mr Maddy had  obtained a VOSA Single Vehicle Approval Test for the vehicle but that he needed to provide an Enhanced Test Certificate to satisfy the Councils requirements. 

Having considered all the circumstances regarding the application, the Committee considered the points put forward by the Licensing Officer and Mr Maddy and felt that there was a need for further discussions between him and the officers about the application.  It was therefore decided to defer the matter and arrange a further meeting to consider it in approximately two weeks time.

RESOLVED THAT:

Consideration of the application be deferred for further discussion between Mr Maddy and the Officers.