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Venue: Council Chamber, Penallta House, Tredomen, Ystrad Mynach. View directions
Contact: Rebecca Barrett
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors P.J. Bevan, W. David, M. Davies, and D.W.R. Preece
(Chair). |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: There were no declarations of
interest received at the commencement or during the course of the meeting. |
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TAXI AND GENERAL LICENSING / REGISTRATION / PERMIT FEES - 2018/19 PDF 173 KB Additional documents: Minutes: 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. |