Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P.J. Bevan, W. David, M. Davies, and D.W.R. Preece (Chair).

There were no declarations of interest received at the commencement or during the course of the meeting.

The Licensing Manager presented the report, which recommended general licensing/registration/permit fees for the next financial year, in order to recover reasonable costs of providing the service, and sought the views of Members prior to presentation to Council.  The report also sought a referral from the Committee to ask Council to note that in accordance with the existing powers contained in the terms of reference for the Taxi and General Committee, in future years the decisions in respect of fees which are set locally will be made by the Committee without further reference to Council. 

Officers outlined the Authority’s statutory duty to administer certain licenses, registrations and permits.  The review of fees charged involves consideration of the cost to the Authority in providing the service.  Some fees are set centrally by government, some permits for matters such as street collections are free of charge, and the remaining fees can be determined locally in order to recover the cost of providing that particular service.  All locally set fees are renewed annually to recover reasonable costs of providing the service, and the report recommended changes where appropriate for a number of general fees such as Animal Premises and Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers licenses. 

Following a number of High Court cases regarding the setting of licensing fees, the Local Government Association has issued guidance to local authorities (updated November 2015).  The underlying principle in setting fees is that the Council must not use fees to make a profit or which act as an economic deterrent to deter certain business types from operating in an area.  Charges must be reasonable and proportionate to the cost of the processes associated with the licensing regime.

A fee calculator toolkit (devised by the All-Wales Licensing Expert Panel and approved by the Directors of Public Protection in Wales) is used by Caerphilly Council to determine such fees.  The fee review process for 18/19 indicated that some current fee levels are not meeting the cost of providing the service, for example Pet Shop licences, Riding Establishments, Boarding Establishments, Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle licences and Taxi driver licences.  It was therefore proposed that these be increased accordingly for 2018/19 in an effort to cover costs, with details of the existing fees and the proposed fees set out at Appendix 1 of the report.  Across other areas, improved cost information and streamlining of processes has resulted in costs remaining static or reducing.

The Committee were referred to the proposed fee increases in respect of Taxi Vehicle and Driver Licenses, which recommended an increase of £16 for a 3 year driver’s licence and a £7 increase for a one year vehicle licence.  The proposed fees fall short of full recovery but are believed to be a realistic increase in the current climate.  It was explained that the current fee levels are not meeting the costs of providing the service, but that full deficit recovery would require increases of £41 for a 3 year driver licence and £32 for an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.