Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Licensing and Appeals Committee - Monday, 7th June, 2021 10.00 am

Venue: Council Chamber, Level 2, Town Hall Extension. View directions

Contact: Ian Hinton-Smith 

Items
No. Item

1.

Minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on .

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2021 were submitted for approval.

 

Decision

 

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the Licensing Committee meeting held on 8 March 2021.

 

2.

Minimum Licensing Standards – Consultation Findings pdf icon PDF 295 KB

The report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing is enclosed.

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing regarding an update on the Minimum Licensing Standards (MLS) project, which included a summary of consultation responses from the public and taxi trade.

 

The Licensing Unit Manager presented information from the report outlining how the public and taxi trade had responded to various aspects of the consultation which was made across Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities.

 

Responding to a question from a Committee member, the Licensing Unit Manager confirmed that Members would be provided with further reports on the consultation findings, with more detail on Manchester specific responses.

 

Responding to questions from a Committee member, the Licensing Unit Manager confirmed that the consultation could probably have taken place sooner but for the fact that the project was linked to the Clean Air Plan as there was a crucial link on vehicles , adding that the COVID19 pandemic further delayed the matter. The Licensing Unit Manager then confirmed that a £20million fund was to be made available to support vehicle upgrades and that this is due to commence towards the close of this calendar year.

 

Responding to a question from a Committee member, the Licensing Unit Manager confirmed that her understanding was that the aforementioned £20million was to be delivered by way of a grant scheme, and not a loan (although those grants may then be used towards special loans that are being devised as part of the overall Clean Taxi Fund Scheme) and that concerns of licensed drivers regarding extra charges have been fed back to TfGM.

 

Responding to questions from a Committee member, the Licensing Unit Manager confirmed that fee setting was not yet finalised, that the target dates for the Clean Air Plan were informed by the Government and could therefore not be altered, and that there had been a low percentage of feedback from the taxi trade to the consultation.

 

Responding to a final question from a Committee member, the Licensing Unit Manager stated that drug and alcohol testing for licensed drivers was supported in principle in the consultation findings, adding that the detail on implementation was to be determined and would need to be cost effective.

 

Decision

 

To note the report.

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 105 KB

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 8 March 2021.