Council and Democracy

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 3, Town Hall, Chesterfield, S40 1LP

Contact: Brian Offiler  01246 345229

Items
No. Item

10.

Declaration of Members' and Officers' Interests relating to Items on the Agenda

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were received.

11.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor P Niblock, A Dickens, M Shaw, T Durham, S Oliver and S Tranter.

12.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 10 July, 2019 pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Minutes:

The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 July, 2019 were agreed as a true record.

13.

Police Issues

Minutes:

Inspector McInulty submitted the reported crime figures for the period 1 July to 30 September, 2019 for the Chesterfield and the Bolsover and North East Derbyshire Policing sections, totalling 28 reports, which included:

 

18 – making off without payment

 7 – damage to vehicle

 1 – alleged robbery

 1 – threat

 1 – racial abuse (verbal)

 

Inspector McInulty referred to recent difficulties caused by taxis picking up at the Stephenson Place / Holywell Street junction and stated the police would work with drivers and operators to encourage a practical and sensible approach.

14.

Hackney Carriage Unmet Demand Survey

Iain MacDonald, LVSA, invited to attend.

Minutes:

Iain MacDonald from LVSA Consultancy explained that he was undertaking the hackney carriage unmet demand survey for the Council and that this included consultation with the taxi trade, stakeholders and the public and camera surveys in order to determine if there was unmet demand for hackney carriages.

 

The initial stages of the survey had identified that many hackney carriages also worked on private hire and that the number of licensed private hire vehicles had increased since the previous survey in 2016.

 

The findings of the survey would be reported to the Appeals and Regulatory Committee in December for the Committee to determine whether to retain or increase or remove the existing limit on the number of licensed hackney carriages.

 

The Chair thanked Iain MacDonald for attending the meeting.

15.

Derbyshire County Council Highways Issues

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 7, details of the proposed traffic regulation order and a plan of the revised taxi rank arrangements on Knifesmithgate and Elder Way were distributed at the meeting. The order would be advertised the following day for consultation until 15 November.

16.

Proposed Amendments to Taxi Consultative Committee Terms of Reference and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy pdf icon PDF 67 KB

Copy of Report to Appeals and Regulatory Committee on 23 October, 2019 attached.

Minutes:

Further to Minute No. 1, it was confirmed that Mrs Mandy Shaw had been nominated to represent hackney carriage licence holders on the Taxi Consultative Committee and that the revision to the Committee’s terms of reference to allow the appointment of nominated representatives supported by fewer than 10 licence holders had subsequently been approved by the Appeals and Regulatory Committee.

 

Further to Minute No. 8, the proposed amendments to the taxi licensing policy had been approved for consultation for a period of six weeks by the Appeals and Regulatory Committee. A copy of the report to the Appeals and Regulatory Committee had been distributed with the agenda. The details of the consultation would be advertised on the Council’s website.

17.

Actions Taken by the Licensing Team since the Last Meeting

Minutes:

During the previous three months two applications for drivers’ licences had been refused by the Appeals and Regulatory Committee.

 

24 vehicles had failed the six-monthly vehicle test, although it had not been necessary to issue penalty points in any cases, but just three written warnings and two verbal warnings.

 

There had been a change of company checking DVLA licences for drivers, which had been notified to drivers, as they now needed to register to do this online. The licensing team could provide assistance if required.