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There is no summary of this meeting yet. One is written once the council publishes the minutes. The agenda and papers are below.
1.1 The Chair welcomed Members and Officers to the meeting of the General Licensing Committee. 1.2 Apologies were received from Councillor Evans and Councillor Simons.
2.1 No interests were declared.
3.1 The Senior Licensing Officer presented the report and the attached appendices. It was explained that the Council had responsibility for the licensing of Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles, with a focus on ensuring safety, suitability, and clear identification. 3.2 Requests had been received to relax age limits and remove signage requirements. A review of policies adopted by neighbouring authorities had been undertaken, which demonstrated variation in both age limits and signage requirements. Therefore, the proposed changes were as followed: • Increasing the age limit for new vehicles from five to eight years. • Removing the restriction on licence transfer for vehicles over eight years old, provided suitability is confirmed. • Maintaining the requirement for officer inspection for vehicles over eight years old. • No change to signage requirements at this stage, pending wider consultation with the trade. 3.3 Following questions from the Committee, the Senior Licensing Officer confirmed the following points: • The proposed amendments to age limits are consistent with practices in neighbouring authorities and aim to address financial pressures faced by the trade. • The suitability of vehicles will remain paramount, with officer inspection required for vehicles over eight years old. • No changes to signage requirements are proposed at this stage, as only one request was received; broader consultation with the trade will be undertaken before any amendments. • Any changes to policy will be subject to full public consultation and careful consideration of feedback before implementation. 3.4 The General Licensing Committee: • agreed for consultation to be undertaken on the proposed age limits set out in Appendix 4, which may be amended as considered appropriate by the Committee. • agreed to consider the views of the taxi trade on the requirement to display operator signage on private hire vehicles at a future meeting.
4.1 The date of the next meeting was confirmed to take place on 27th November 2025.
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