Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the Committee meeting held on 23 January 2024.

The Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 23 January 2024 were agreed and signed as a true record.

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A(4) 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, as defined in Schedule 12A of that Act, in particular those paragraphs of Part 1 of the Schedule as indicated:

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Licensing and Regulatory Committee received a report of the Director of Law and Governance regarding the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Fee Review 2024 – 2025. This review allowed members to consider objections, following a 28-day public consultation to the recent proposed increase in fees & charges for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing.

The proposed fee changes were approved by the Licensing & Regulatory Committee on 23rd January 2024, subject to a 28-day public consultation and consideration of the objections received. The proposed fees will come into force on 1st April 2024.

Following a discussion with officers, the Committee raised concerns around the general misunderstanding raised throughout the representations during the consultation period regarding the legal powers the council has to control the use of app based private hire vehicles. They also raised concerns around parking enforcement especially at sites such as Coventry Railway Station. Officers reassured the committee that work was being done with the Taxi Forum, Avanti, and other neighbouring authorities to better enforce against private hire vehicles parking inappropriately and in taxi ranks throughout the city. They did however recognise that more joint operations should take place especially during the nighttime economy to pick up on these issues. The Committee further suggested communicating these issues to the West Midlands Combined Authority in order to remedy these problems on a wider scale.

RESOLVED that, the Licensing and Regulatory Committee:

1)  Approves, subject to consideration of objections at Appendix B of the report, the proposed fee changes detailed in Appendix A of the report to commence on the 1^st April 2024.

2)  Approves licensing officers sending out communications to taxi drivers regarding the legal remit of the Council to control the use and operations of app-based services and the current efforts of officers to help taxi drivers.

3)  Agrees raising issues surrounding private hire parking at Coventry Railway Station with the Cabinet Member for City Services and the West Midlands Combined Authority.

There were no outstanding issues.

There were no other items of public business.

Reports of the Director of Law and Governance on the following:

(Listing Officer: Mick Coggins, Email: mick.coggins@coventry.gov.uk 

RESOLVED that, having considered the circumstances set out in the report of the Director of Law and Governance now submitted,

(a)  The application for the Review of a Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence be granted with a written warning.

(Notes: i) Councillor R Lakha did not vote on this application as they had left the meeting. ii) The Applicant attended the meeting in support of his case).

(b)  The application for the Review of a Hackney Carriage Driver’s Licence be revoked.

(Notes: i) Councillor R Lakha did not vote on this application as they had left the meeting. ii) The Applicant and his Union Representative attended the meeting in support of his case).

There were no other items of private business.