Agenda and minutes

In accordance with the Council's Code of Conduct, Councillors of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to declare interests where appropriate.

No disclosures of interests were made.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Licensing Committee held on 9 September 2019.

The minutes of the meeting of the Licensing Committee held on 9 September 2019 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meetings of the Licensing Sub-Committee held on 8 October 2019 to Application to Review the Premises Licence - Déjà Vu Bar, 26-32 High Street, Crawley, (Northgate & West Green Ward).

Chaired by Councillor M Jones.

The minutes of the Licensing Sub-Committee listed below were approved as a correct record and signed by the Councillor indicated below:-

To consider report HCS/19 of the Head of Community Services.

The Licensing Committee considered report HCS/19 of the Head of Community Services, which recommended the Committee consider a variation to the Hackney Carriage table of fares as requested by the Crawley Hackney Carriage Association (CHCA).  Due to extensive discussion between the Council’s Licensing team and the CHCA regarding the proposed fares, revisions had been made following the initial publication of the report.  In light of this, the Committee was asked to consider report HCS/19a, which had been published as a Supplementary Agenda and included a new revised version of the proposed fares (Appendix A of report HCS/19a).  This revised version of the proposed fares had been requested by the Chair of the CHCA as the original proposal had not been in line with the CHCA members’ requests despite its prior confirmation by the Vice-Chair of the CHCA.  The report requested that the Committee consider the proposals put before it and the Committee noted that officers did not specifically recommend adoption nor rejection of those proposals.

Following a query from a Committee member, officers assured the Committee of the legality and validity of the current table of fares.  It was clarified that the Committee’s previous suggestion regarding the plausibility of a simpler fare tariff had been investigated by Licensing Officers in conjunction with companies responsible for updating taxi meters, but was deemed incompatible with current technology.  The Committee discussed the future possibility of encouraging drivers to install up-to-date meters in order to facilitate the introduction of a simpler fare tariff.  In response to concerns over the related costs for drivers, the Committee was assured that this would be taken into account by the Council as part of a steady long-term plan.  It was clarified that as a ‘tool of the trade’, any meter-related costs would be met by Hackney Carriage proprietors, not the Council.

As part of a discussion on the proposed new tariff 4 as set out in Appendix A of report HCS/19a, it was noted that a meter button would need to be pressed manually by the driver of a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) to activate tariff 4 when transporting five or more passengers.  The Committee raised concerns over the possibility that groups of fewer than five passengers could be incorrectly overcharged at the tariff 4 rate.  In response, officers described the need for a level of trust in Crawley’s licensed drivers who had met the ‘fit and proper’ guidelines.  Officers did assure the Committee that any complaints regarding improper usage of tariff 4 would be taken seriously and investigated, and that sanctions could be used when appropriate.  The Committee requested that fares continue to be clearly displayed to passengers.

It was clarified to the Committee that passengers with disabilities travelling in an MVP would not be charged the higher tariff 4 fare (when travelling as a group of fewer than five passengers) simply due to the larger size of vehicle potentially required.  The Committee also noted that tariff 4 may help to offset any extra running costs  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.