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The decisions as the council's minutes record them. A plain-language summary follows once it has been written.
AGREED to approve the proposed licensing fees falling to the committee for determination.
AGREED, with the majority voting in favour, to set the licence fees for 2025/26 in relation to hackney carriage and private hire as proposed in Appendix 1 of the report.
1.1 The Chair welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting of the General Licensing Committee. 1.2 Apologies were received from Councillor Nicholas Simons.
2.1 Councillor Evans declared a personal, non-prejudicial interest as a DVSA tester. 2.2 No other interests were declared.
3.1 The minutes were confirmed as a true and accurate record.
4.1 The minutes were noted.
Decision as recorded
AGREED to approve the proposed licensing fees falling to the committee for determination.
5.1 The TML&TS shared her screen and presented the report. Following, she responded to Members’ questions as follows: · When comparing the fees of other local authorities (LAs), it was the current year that was looked at. Finance provided information on the costs involved for the team. Fees were set at a cost recovery level; they were not able to make a profit or a loss. · Information relating to specifics such as on-costs, profit and loss was not available from other LAs. Variations could be around staffing costs. Staff at the different LAs were paid differently and the on-costs that could be taken into consideration could include items such as IT, legal etc. It all played a part of the fee setting. · Fees between LAs could be significantly different, depending on how they managed their licences. Street Trading for example could play a bigger part of a different licensing regime, and so they might charge more. No LA was able to make a profit. 5.2 The Committee AGREED to approve the proposed licensing fees falling to the committee for determination.
Decision as recorded
AGREED, with the majority voting in favour, to set the licence fees for 2025/26 in relation to hackney carriage and private hire as proposed in Appendix 1 of the report.
6.1 The TML&TS shared presented her report whilst sharing her screen. After, she responded to Members’ questions as follows: • Licensing worked closely with colleagues in Finance to get the most up to date information when setting fees. They carried out an annual time analysis and went through each step undertaken to process their licences. They could only charge for the work they undertook. On-costs had increased; there were variations in staffing costs at each LA. The fees proposed were a true reflection of what was incurred as part of the work. • Regular checks were carried out on vehicles; they had a stringent inspection programme. Inspections were carried out on new vehicles and when they reached a certain age they needed to carry out a satisfaction survey. They worked closely with VOSA and the Police to undertake regular inspections. Their work with them was dependent on resources available; they were unable to stop vehicles by law, only those that had already stopped or were called in. The team also responded to complaints. One of the objections stated that there were vehicles driving around without signage, but unless they were informed, they were unable to do anything, so they encouraged people to make a note of vehicle registration plates or ID numbers, and to report issues to them. They were reactive as well as proactive in their work. These things were in place to protect the public, but drivers and vehicles moved around operators; the team needed to be told so they could carry out inspections. VOSA and DVSA officers helped them inspect the mechanical soundness of the vehicles; they looked at tyres, engine management lights, horns, lights etc. • Information was not available in relation to how other LAs processed their licences or based their calculations; but the fees set in Torfaen were a true reflection of what it cost. 6.2 The Committee AGREED, with the majority voting in favour, to set the licence fees for 2025/26 in relation to hackney carriage and private hire as proposed in Appendix 1 of the report.
7.1 The date of the next meeting was confirmed to take place in the new municipal year. 7.2 The meeting ended at 10.31am.
Councillors must say when they have a personal link to something being discussed, such as a job, a property or a family member. A prejudicial interest is one strong enough that the councillor usually leaves the room and takes no part.
Declarations are read from the minutes once they are published.
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