Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 28July 2015 and the Sub-Committee hearings held on 3 July and 21 July 2015.

The minutes of the Committee meeting held on 28 July 2015 and the minutes of the Sub-Committee hearings held on 3 and 21 July 2015 were signed as true records.

RESOLVED that, under Section 1004(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the items of business indicated below, on the grounds that those items involve the likely disclosure of exempt information and that there would be no public interest in disclosing that information, as defined in Schedule 12A of that Act, in particular those paragraphs of Part 1 of that Schedule as indicated:

There were no outstanding issues.

Report of the Executive Director of Place.

The Committee considered a report of the Executive Director of Place which sought approval for the adjustment and re-structuring of some of the fees for hackney carriage and private hire licensing.

Coventry City Council currently issues drivers’ licences annually and has the option for private hire operators to either be issued an annual licence or a five-yearly licence. From 1 October 2015 the Deregulation Act would require local authorities to generally issue drivers’ licences for a three year period and private hire operators’ licences for a five year period.

The Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 provides that the City Council may charge as fees the reasonable cost of administering and enforcing the hackney carriage and private hire licensing function. The fees charged by the Taxi Licensing Office are intended to enable the service to operate on a self-financing basis.

A review was carried out in 2009, which involved assessing the resources used for each activity represented by a fee. Any increased costs to taxi licensing since 2009 have been managed within available resources.

The report provided a break down of the current costs and proposed costs and how the news costs were calculated. Furthermore, the report detailed the proposal and other options to be considered. 

If approved, the proposed 2015 changes in drivers’ and private hire operators’ licence fees would be advertised in the Coventry Telegraph on 27 August 2015. Any objections received would be submitted for consideration at the Committee meeting on 29 September 2015. If no objections are received, the proposed fees would come into force on the 1 October 2015. Any licence renewals received in September but expiring from the 1 October onwards (applicants are allowed to renew their licence up to one month in advance of expiry date) would be given a month’s extension to their existing licence at no charge which would then be renewed three/five yearly accordingly.

RESOLVED that the Committee approve the proposed fee structure detailed in Appendix A of the report for three yearly drivers’ licences and five-yearly private hire operator’s licences subject to statutory consultation and the further consideration of any objections received.

Members congratulated the Taxi Licensing Office for organising an informative tour of the facilities and an excellent taxi demonstration. 

RESOLVED that, having considered a report of the Executive Director of Place, the Council Solicitor be authorised to institute legal proceedings under the Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 against appropriate persons in respect of the alleged non-compliance with a formal notice issued under the above Act on the owners of 799 and 801 Foleshill Road.

In addition it was agreed to delegate powers to the Assistant Director (Streetscene and Greenspace) to authorise legal proceedings for any further offences which may come to light before the case under consideration has been resolved in court.

There were no other items of urgent business.