Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bellamy, P Innes and Niblock.

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Appeals and Regulatory Committee held on 27July, 2022 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Licensing Manager presented a report on a proposed amendment to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy relating to good conduct certificates.

Under the current policy, applicants from other countries were required to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct from the embassy of every country where they had been domiciled before entering the UK, providing they have not lived in the United Kingdom for at least a 10 year period. Applicants from countries suffering war or other turmoil had experienced difficulties in obtaining this documentation. In these circumstances, applicants were referred to the committee if they have not been a resident in the UK for at least 10 years.

A change in the policy had been proposed to allow applicants to apply for a Hackney Carriage and Private Hire License without having to get a good conduct certificate, providing they had given acceptable answers on a set questionnaire regarding their offending history.

*RESOLVED –

That good conduct certificates no longer be required from applicants for a taxi or private hire drivers licence if the person concerned answers the questionnaire acceptably and had no offending history.