Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes of the meeting held on 14^th March 2018 having been circulated were signed as a correct record.

            The Committee considered a request to authorise a review of the Council’s Statement of Gambling Policy.  The policy must be reviewed by the Council for successive three year periods and the current policy was due to expire at midnight on 30 January 2019.  Members were advised on the consultation process to be followed and a copy of the updated Policy had been circulated to Members. The reference to the Gambling Commission’s statutory guidance in the agenda was updated and corrected.

            Following the consultation process a report would be brought back to Committee for consideration and recommendation to Council

            RESOLVED: That

1.    the Operational Director Legal and Democratic Services (OD-LD) be authorised to undertake a consultation exercise in respect of the Council’s Statement of Gambling Policy in accordance with section 349 Gambling Act 2005;

2.    the OD-LD to determine all matters relating to the consultation process; and

3.    the matter be reported back to the Regulatory Committee following completion of the consultation process. 

            The Committee considered the outcome of the Hackney Carriage Stands review which had gone through a consultation process via the Taxi Consultative Group.  The policy changes sought by the Committee are required to be adopted by the Council’s Executive Board. Typographical errors on page 39 of the Agenda relating to Market Street were highlighted and corrected.

            The Committee was in general agreement with the proposals in the agenda but considered that certain improvements might be made in particular with regard the Appleton Village Taxi Stand.

            RESOLVED: That

1.    the Operational Director Legal and Democratic Services (OD-LD) in consultation with the Chairman be delegated to determine the next steps to be taken with a view to try to achieve the improvements discussed at the meeting.

2.    the proposals determined by the OD-LD in consultation with the Chairman be referred to the Executive Board be requested to authorise the OD-LD to fulfil all procedural requirements relating to the proposals in accordance with Section 63 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions ) Act 1976   

            The Committee considered a report on miscellaneous policy changes which have gone through a consultation process via the Taxi Consultative Group.  These involved changes in existing and additional policy to elements of the Taxi Licensing Policy, Single Status Driver’s, Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle and Private Hire Operator’s conditions as set out in the agenda. The policy changes approved by the Committee are required to be adopted by the Executive Board.

            RESOLVED: That

1.    the Committee endorses all of the proposals set out in Section 4 of the agenda;

2.    the Executive Board be recommended formally to adopt the above proposals and that the adoption will take place on a date to be determined by the Executive Board; and

3.    pending the decision of the Executive Board the Operational Director Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to take decisions in respect of individual applications as if the policy changes recommended by the Committee were already in force.  

PART II

In this case the Board has a discretion to exclude the press and public and, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, it is RECOMMENDED that under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, having been satisfied that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

The Committee considered:

(1)  Whether Members of the press and public should be excluded from the meeting of the Board during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business to be considered, exempt information would be disclosed, being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph 3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972; and

(2)  Whether the disclosure of information was in the public interest, whether any relevant exemptions were applicable and whether, when applying the public interest test and exemptions, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed that in disclosing the information.

            RESOLVED: That as, in all the circumstances of the following item only of the Committee Agenda,  the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information, members of the press and public be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following items of business in accordance with Sub-Section 4 of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972 because it was likely that, in view of the nature of the business, exempt information would be disclosed , being information defined in Section 100 (1) and paragraph,3 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972.

            Case: No 715

            RESOLVED: At the request of the individual concerned the application be adjourned to the next meeting of the Regulatory Committee.