Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Offices, Station Road, Wigston

Contact: Licensing, Environmental Health or Building Control  Tel: (0116) 257 2 Ext. 642 (Lic) Ext. 590 (EvnH) Ext. 593 (BCon) Email: licensing@oadby-wigston.gov.uk Email: environmental.health@oadby-wigston.gov.uk Email: building.control@oadby-wigston.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

An apology for absence was received from Councillors E R Barr, Miss A R Bond and M H Charlesworth.

2.

Declarations of Interest

Members are reminded that any declaration of interest should be made having regard to the Members’ Code of Conduct. In particular, Members must make clear the nature of the interest and whether it is 'pecuniary' or ‘non-pecuniary'.

Minutes:

None.

3.

Minutes of the Previous Meeting held on 05 April 2018 pdf icon PDF 98 KB

To read, confirm and sign the minutes of the previous meeting in accordance with Rule 17 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

Minutes:

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

 

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 05 April 2018 be taken as read, confirmed and signed.

4.

Action List Arising from the Meeting held on 05 April 2018 pdf icon PDF 36 KB

To read, confirm and note the Action List arising from the previous meeting.

Minutes:

In respect of the first action point, a general definition of household waste was provided to Members. It was advised that the definition ought to be read in conjunction with the definition(s) of waste on the Government’s website and the list of chargeable non-household waste as on Leicestershire County Council’s website.

 

In respect of the second action point, a statistical breakdown of confirmed incidents of fly-tipping and abandoned vehicles for the first quarter of 2017/18 was said to feature as part of the verbal update at agenda item 6 (at min. ref. 6).

 

In respect of the third action point, it was reported that one scrap-metal dealer operating in the Borough had been incorrectly issued with two licences: it was said that one of the two licences had since lapsed and was not to be renewed.

 

The Chair requested that an amendment be made to the Council’s Constitution (under the authority given to the Monitoring Officer under Article 12.02) to exclude those Members who have not completed basic training from being eligible to sit on a Licensing Sub-Committee or Panel only and not from the parent Committee.

 

At the request of the Chair, the Committee unanimously endorsed the ‘Sam Says’ campaign aimed to educate taxi drivers and passengers about the dangers of ‘car-dooring’. It was agreed that safety stickers were to be displayed in Council vehicles and taxi drivers were also to be encouraged to display the same in their vehicles.

 

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

 

The Action List be noted by Members.

5.

Petitions and Deputations

To receive any Petitions and, or, Deputations in accordance with Rule 24 of Part 4 of the Constitution.

Minutes:

None.

6.

Environmental Health Update (Q1 2018/19) (Verbal Update) pdf icon PDF 11 KB

Verbal update of the Environmental Health & Licensing Team Leader

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the verbal update as delivered by the Environmental Health & Licensing Team Leader. A copy of the verbal update is filled together with these minutes at Annex A and Annex B.

 

The Committee was advised that formal letters had been issued to those offenders identified in those confirmed fly-tipping cases. This was said to have successfully achieved a required level of compliance without the need for full enforcement action.

 

The Committee was advised that the review and tendering of the new stray dog service contract, that was to include an enforcement element in respect of dog-fouling, was a work in progress. It was said that options were also being explored to invest in and introduce CCTV, body-cameras and other mobile enforcement tools.

 

It was reported that all classes of food premises had been, or were to be, inspected. It was said that different enforcement and monitoring formats had been introduced, including more practical and self-auditing options for premises owners.

 

It was reported that the responsibility for conducting hygiene inspections of mobile food business, such as ice-cream vans, rested with the local authority with whom the business owner had registered with. It was also noted that in order to trade lawfully in the Borough, vendors were required to obtain a Street Trading Consent.

 

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

 

The verbal update be noted by Members.

7.

Licensing Update (Q1 2018/19) pdf icon PDF 85 KB

Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the report (at pages 9 - 11) as delivered and summarised by the Head of Law & Governance / Monitoring Officer which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

 

The Committee raised concerns regarding the capacity of the Licensing Section in view of the increasing high number of applications being received and relatively low pass rates of those applicants sitting the competency test. The Committee was advised that a number of workflow initiatives had since been put in place and a request had been made to recruit an apprentice in order to better manage and expedite existing workloads. It was also said that current testing processes were designed to filter out the very best calibre of candidates to go to be licenced drivers.

 

The Committee was advised that the introduction of a saturation policy in terms of limiting the number of hackney carriage (HC) vehicles would be difficult to implement given the robust evidence-base needed to withstand potential challenge. It was also advised that it would be difficult to justify the implementation of a policy requiring all HC vehicles to be complaint with the Equality Act 2010 for passenger accessibility as this would involve a considerable amount of expenditure that would yield only a relatively small benefit. The suitability of particular vehicle types could be considered.

 

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

 

That contents of the report be noted by Members.

8.

Adoption of the Institute of Licensing's "Fit and Proper" Criteria pdf icon PDF 71 KB

Report of the Licensing Enforcement Officer

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendix (at pages 12 - 28) as delivered and summarised by the Head of Law & Governance / Monitoring Officer which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

 

It was moved by Councillor Mrs H E Loydall, and Councillor G A Boulter and

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

 

(i)       The Institute of Licensing’s guidance entitled ‘Guidance on determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the hackney and private hire trades’ be adopted; and

(ii)     The Head of Law & Governance / Monitoring Officer be given delegated authority, following consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee, to review the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and the Guidelines on Relevant Convictions contained therein to ensure there is a consistent approach to that advocated in the Guidance.

9.

Civil Penalties under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 pdf icon PDF 93 KB

Report of the Environmental Health Officer

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee gave consideration to the report and appendix (at pages 29 - 37) as delivered and summarised by the Head of Law & Governance / Monitoring Officer which should be read together with these minutes as a composite document.

 

The Committee was advised of the policy amendments as resolved at the meeting of the Service Delivery Committee on 10 July whereby it was agreed that: there needed to be more proportionality between offenders’ income and any proposed penalty; more details as to fully recoverable costs was to feature in the policy and; the level of the penalty was to be ultimately set by the Head of Law & Governance.

 

By affirmation of the meeting, it was

 

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED THAT:

 

The contents of the report and appendix be noted.

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