Agenda and draft minutes

Councillor Holland was appointed as Chair for this meeting.

Councillors are reminded of the need to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests that relate to business on the agenda and which have not already been included in the register of interests, before any discussion takes place on the item. Unless the interest is sensitive, you must also disclose the nature of the interest. In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, you must then leave the room and must not participate in any further discussion of the item.  Councillors requiring clarification should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer prior to the day of the meeting.

No declarations of interest were made by Members.

To pass the following resolution:

RECOMMENDEDthat, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for item 4 on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED that, under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of the following items on the grounds that they involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1 of Part I, Schedule 12A of the Act.

To consider the report of the Service Lead - Environmental Health & Community Safety.

The Chair introduced the Licensing Sub Committee Members and Officers.

The Legal Advisor set out the procedure for the hearing advising of the requirements under Section 48(1) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

The Licensing Officer presented the application to renew a Private Hire Vehicle licence in relation to an eight passenger with wheelchair access vehicle which was over 9 years old at the renewal date.  The Applicant had confirmed that the vehicle was wheelchair accessible at the meeting.

The Applicant had submitted a vehicle MOT certificate dated 14 July 2022, with a recorded mileage of 209,573 miles. An independent mechanical inspection report, dated 18 July 2022 had also been submitted. The vehicle had been inspected by a Licensing Office on 12 August 2022, and had been considered to be in a good condition for the age and mileage. Additional photographs of the vehicle had also been submitted and the vehicle was confirmed to have been plated by Exeter City Council since 21 July 2015.

The Licensing Officer explained the Taxi Policy, which stated that vehicles presented for renewal aged between 9 and 10 years old would be referred to the Licensing Sub Committee for determination. Vehicles over 10 years old should not be granted, however, the Applicant had the right to apply for the application to be considered by a Licensing Sub-Committee if they considered that their circumstances justified a deviation from the policy.

The Applicant who was in attendance spoke in support of the application as well as providing an overview of the use of the vehicle, which was mostly used for school transportation through Devon County Council and responded to questions from Members.

RESOLVED that the application for renewal of a Private Hire Vehicle licence be granted for 12 months.