The Chairman will advise the meeting of the evacuation procedures to follow in the event of an emergency. This is particularly important for visitors and members of the public who will be unfamiliar with the building and procedures.

The Chairman will inform the meeting whether there is a planned evacuation drill due to take place, what the alarm sounds like (i.e. ringing bells), where the closest emergency exit route is, and where the second closest emergency exit route is, in the event that the closest exit or route is blocked.

The Chairman will inform the meeting that:

(a) in the event of the alarm sounding, everybody must leave the building via the nearest safe available exit and gather at the Assembly points at the far side of the Car Park. Nobody must leave the assembly point until everybody can be accounted for and nobody must return to the building until the Chairman has informed them that it is safe to do so; and

(b) the lifts must not be used in the event of an evacuation.

Any officers present at the meeting will aid with the evacuation.

It is important that the Chairman is informed of any person attending who is disabled or unable to use the stairs, so that suitable arrangements may be made in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman drew attention to the emergency fire evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 July 2018 (Minute Nos. 118 – 125) as a correct record, and to accept the minutes of the following Licensing Sub-Committees:

23 July 2018 2.30pm (Minute Nos. 140 – 144)

23 July 2018 3.30pm (Minute Nos. 145 – 149)

24 September 2018 (Minute Nos. to-follow)

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 July 2018 (Minute Nos. 118 -  125) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Licensing Sub-Committees held on 23 July 2018 at 2.30pm (Minute Nos. 140 – 144), 23 July 2018 at 3.30pm (Minute Nos. 145 – 149) and 24 September 2018 (Minute Nos. 228 – 232) were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for  themselves or their spouse, civil partner or person with whom they are living with as a spouse or civil partner.  They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

The Chairman will ask Members if they have any interests to declare in respect of items on this agenda, under the following headings:

(a)          Disclosable Pecuniary Interests (DPI) under the Localism Act 2011.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DPI, the Member must leave the meeting and not take part in the discussion or vote.  This applies even if there is provision for public speaking.

(b)          Disclosable Non Pecuniary (DNPI) under the Code of Conduct adopted by the Council in May 2012.  The nature as well as the existence of any such interest must be declared.  After declaring a DNPI interest, the Member may stay, speak and vote on the matter.

(c)          Where it is possible that a fair-minded and informed observer, having considered the facts would conclude that there was a real possibility that the Member might be predetermined or biased the Member should declare their predetermination or bias and then leave the room while that item is considered.

Advice to Members:  If any Councillor has any doubt about the existence or nature of any DPI or DNPI which he/she may have in any item on this agenda, he/she should seek advice from the Monitoring Officer, the Head of Legal or from other Solicitors in Legal Services as early as possible, and in advance of the Meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Council operates a scheme of public speaking at meetings of the General Licensing Committee.  Requests to speak at the meeting must be registered by Democratic Services by 4.30pm on Friday 28 September 2018 and must be related to an item on the Agenda.  Each speaker has a maximum of three minutes to speak.

The Chairman advised that no requests to speak had been received.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report which asked Members to note that there were no responses to the public consultation on the draft Statement of Licensing Principles under the Gambling Act 2005, and approval was sought so that the draft Statement could be referred to Full Council with a recommendation for adoption.

The Licensing Officer reported that the public consultation had run from 23 July 2018 until 14 September 2018 and was extremely wide ranging in terms of who was consulted and the methods used to publicise the consultation.  She explained that despite that, no comments were received.

The Licensing Officer explained that the Statement of Principles was a Council function and the draft would be presented to Full Council on 14 November 2018 in order that it could come into operation on 3 January 2019.

On being put to the vote, Members agreed the recommendations in the report.

Recommended:

(1)      That no responses to the public consultation on the draft Statement of Licensing Principles under the Gambling Act 2005 be noted.

(2)      That the revised Statement of Licensing Principles under the Gambling Act 2005 be endorsed and referred to Full Council on 14 November 2018 for adoption.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report which set out feedback following the public consultation on the draft Sex Establishment Policy and recommended that the Policy be adopted. 

The Licensing Officer reported that the consultation had run from 16 July 2018 until 7 September 2018, and despite the widespread nature of the consultation, only one complimentary response relating to Swale’s only sex shop in Bluetown, Sheerness had been received.  The response considered that the premises was well run and discreet. 

The Chairman noted this response, Appendix II to the report, had been omitted from the Agenda, but stated that it had previously been emailed to Members and was tabled.

The Licensing Officer sought approval to adopt the Policy which would run for a period of three years.

On being put to the vote, Members agreed the recommendations in the report.

Resolved:

(1)      That the comment made in the evaluation grid attached as Appendix II of the report, be noted.

(2)      That the Sex Establishments Policy as set out in Appendix I to the report be adopted to run for a period of 3 October 2018 – 2 October 2021.

The Resilience and Licensing Manager introduced the report which asked Members to note and support the expression of interest submitted to Kent County Council (KCC)  in the potential bid for a grant to install electric charging points in Swale.

The Resilience and Licensing Manager reported that the grant would support the LoCase grant that was being made available to taxi drivers and operators through KCC.  She advised electric and hybrid vehicles were now accepted and this had been added to the Policy, and would help to support the Ambition/Impact criteria. 

The Resilience and Licensing Manager explained that under the criteria for Deliverability, it was recommended that key local decision makers should be on-board.  The Value for Money criteria referred to the local authority match-funding, however the Council could not commit to that at this stage. The Resilience and Licensing Manager stated that they had been informed by KCC that there may be other grants that could make up the 25% shortfall, or there could be negotiations with the providers of the electric charging points.

On being put to the vote, Members agreed the recommendations in the report.

Resolved:

(1)      That the Expression of Interest to the Office for Low Emission Vehicle (OLEV) grant for Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) taxis be progressed.

(2)      That the Low Carbon Across the South East (LoCASE) made available to Swale taxis be noted.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report which proposed removal of two fees description and replacing with alternative wording to the existing approved list of Taxi fees and charges.  The Licensing Officer explained that officers had noted that two of the options listed in the fees and charges list were not being used, and the wording came across as being confusing to some members of the trade.

The Licensing Officer outlined the current wording for the two fees for Members: change an existing vehicle from a Private Hire Vehicle to Hackney Carriage Vehicle; and change an existing vehicle from a Hackney Carriage vehicle to Private Hire Vehicle.  He advised that it was extremely unlikely that any vehicle would ever be converted from one category to another due to Swale’s policy on the paintwork in the different categories.  Therefore, officers were proposing to change the wording to: change of vehicle on an existing plate, as this was an option that happened often, the fee would stay the same at £80 as the process was the same.  Members were asked to approve the replacement of the wording on the list of approved taxi fees and charges.

Councillor Cameron, Beart moved the following motion: That the replacement wording, change of vehicle on an existing plate, be added to the list of approved taxi fees and charges.  This was seconded by Councillor Tina Booth. 

On being put to the vote, the recommendation in the report, and the motion above were agreed.

Resolved:

(1) That the wording for two fees as set out in the report be removed from the current list of Taxi fees and charges.

(2)  That the replacement wording, change of vehicle on an existing plate, be added to the list of approved taxi fees and charges.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report which sought approval for participation in the national database of taxi driver licence revocations and refusals.

The Licensing Officer explained that when considering applications to become a new taxi driver in Swale, or renewal applications from an existing driver, the licensing team had two main sources of information on which to judge whether an applicant was ‘fit and proper’ within its legal definition to be licensed.  These were: a DBS check that would reveal any offence, conviction, prosecution, or caution that an applicant may have received; and the application form which asked the applicant to supply a variety of information that included whether they had ever been previously licensed elsewhere as a hackney carriage or private hire driver, and if so whether that licence had been suspended or revoked.

The Licensing Officer explained that if an applicant answered ‘Yes’ to this question, then further enquiries could be made to satisfy officers whether they were fit and proper.  However, if they answered ‘No’ then there was no way for a local authority to check whether this was an accurate statement on which to base a decision to licence an individual or not.

The Licensing Officer stated that as those Members who had sat on a Licensing Sub-Committee would be aware, making an adjudication in respect of a taxi driver, there were many circumstances which rendered an individual not ‘fit and proper’ that were not criminal by nature.  She stated that there was therefore the possibility that a Local Authority could licence someone that another authority has refused to licence or who had had their licence revoked

The Licensing Officer stated that in recognition of this, the Local Government Association, in liaison with the National Anti-Fraud Network, had developed a national register that local authorities would be able to access and search for information posted by other local authorities regarding individuals in relation to refusals and revocations of taxi licences.  Similarly the Council would be able to post the same information regarding taxi drivers in Swale.

The Licensing Officer reported that Guidance had been published to instruct Local Authorities on how to go about this process, as set out at Appendix I to the report.  The Licensing Officer stated that it was recommended that data should be retained on the register for a period of 25 years.  The Licensing Officer outlined the ways in which new applicants and existing licence holders would be made aware of the register should Members decide that Swale should participate in the registration scheme. 

The Licensing Officer further reported that whilst the Council held limited historical information on individuals who had had their licence refused or revoked, where this data was available, the individual would be written to explaining that the register affected them and that information may be uploaded to it.  An individual could request that the information was not uploaded and any request of this nature would be carefully considered before a final decision was made by  ...  view the full minutes text for item 254.