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No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES To receive
any apologies for absence. Minutes: Everyone was welcomed to
the meeting by the Chairman, Councillor Eryl Jones-Williams. Apologies were
received from Councillors Craig ab Iago, Annwen Hughes, Louise Hughes, Dilwyn
Lloyd and Peter Read. |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive
any declaration of personal interest. Minutes: No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present. |
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URGENT ITEMS To note any
items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for
consideration. Minutes: None to note |
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The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the meeting of this Committee, held
on 14 September 2015 be signed as a true
record. Minutes: The
Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee, held on
14 September 2015, as a true record. |
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GENERAL LICENSING SUB-COMMITTEE MINUTES PDF 197 KB To submit,
for information, minutes of the General Licensing Sub-committee meeting held on
the following date – a) 2.09.15 b) 3.11.15 Additional documents: Minutes: Submitted, for information, the minutes of the meetings of the General
Licensing Sub-committee held on 02.09.15 and 03.11.15. |
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REVISION OF GWYNEDD COUNCIL'S POLICIES To receive
an update from the Licensing Manager Minutes: - Combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Policy - Hackney Carriages/Private Hire Vehicles Licensing Policy - Private Hire Operators Licensing Policy An oral update
from the Licensing Manager was provided on the work of reviewing the licensing
policies to create a unified policy. Members were reminded that in the
committee meeting held on 14 September 2015 they had: -
authorised the Head of the
Regulatory Department to begin a review of the licensing policies in relation
to operators, hackney carriages and private hire vehicles and drivers. -
supported the general
direction of Proposals 1 to 5 as a starting point for the review. It was noted
that The Cabinet had agreed with the principles and the need to reconcile the
current policies. It was confirmed that the Licensing Unit had begun reviewing the
policies and that the research work had already revealed matters that required
attention. One of the
matters was the existence of 'by-laws'. It was noted that the current policies
had been accepted in 2010, although it was in 2003 that they had been reviewed
in their entirety. In the 2003 version,
conditions refer to the by-laws, but in the 2010 adaptation there is no
reference to these by-laws. By
collaborating with the Legal Unit, it was discovered that the by-laws continued
to be in existence, and therefore it must be ensured that these match with the
policies coherently and correctly. Members were reminded that there must be
by-laws in order to ensure conditions for hackney carriage drivers. Matters arising
from the discussion, -
ensuring clarity and control in the context of by-laws -
agreeing that the policies need to be tidied to reduce
confusion -
looking at what other
Councils are implementing. An observation
was made on the use of 'orange wallets', where it was suggested to include
'training on support for vulnerable / disabled / blind customers' as a taxi
driver condition. In response, it was noted that some Councils were already
adopting the training as a condition and that ii was possible for Gwynedd to
consider this as part of the knowledge test that every driver must
complete. In an
observation on the possible changes to the Immigration Bill, where an
applicant, when making an application for a taxi driver licence, will have to
show evidence of his/her right to work in the country and no 'immigration
offence,' it was noted that the policies would need to be modified subject to
the House of Commons' decision. RESOLVED Support the
Licensing Unit to continue with their review of the licensing policies by
collaborating with the Legal Unit to ensure clarity and control over the
by-laws. That there is a need to adopt 'training on support for
vulnerable / disabled / blind customers' as a taxi driver condition and as part
of the knowledge test that must be completed.
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