Minute
North Lanarkshire Council · 7 February 2023
Back to Regulatory Committee — 7 February 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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REGULATORY - 7 FEBRUARY 2023 68 Motherwell, 7 February 2023 at 10 am. A Meeting of the REGULATORY COMMITTEE PRESENT Councillor McLaren, Convener; Councillor McVey, Vice-Convener; Councillors Ballinger, Baudo, Beveridge, Dunbar, Fisher, Hughes, Robb and Thomas. CHAIR Councillor McLaren (Convener) presided. IN ATTENDANCE The Solicitor (Licensing) and Administrative Officer, Legal and Democratic Solutions. APOLOGIES Councillor Crichton, Docherty, Shevlin and Watson. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN TERMS OF THE ETHICAL STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT 2000 1. No declarations were made. It was agreed in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 3 and 6 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. HEARINGS (1) TAXI DRIVER'S LICENCE - NEW APPLICATION - JAMES MARTIN 2. There was submitted an application by James Martin for a Taxi Driver's Licence. The Administrative Officer then indicated that James Martin was not in attendance. The Solicitor (Licensing) then advised that attempts to contact James Martin had been unsuccessful. Thereafter, the Committee resumed consideration of the matter in the applicant's absence. Decided: that consideration of the application by James Martin for a Taxi Driver's Licence be continued to allow the applicant a further opportunity to appear before the Committee to speak in respect of the application. (2) RESTRICTED RENEWAL EXTENSIONS - TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE CARS 3. With reference to paragraph 6 of the Minute of the meeting of this Committee held on 6 September 2022, there was submitted a report by the Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) (1) detailing, within Appendices 2 and 3 to the report, the North Lanarkshire Council specifications regarding age limits for
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REGULATORY - 7 FEBRUARY 2023 69 vehicles operating as Taxis and Private Hire Cars respectively; (2) advising that, due to the financial effects of the global pandemic, a number of operators of Taxi and Private Hire licences had been unable to present upgraded/age compliant vehicles when renewing their licences; (3) proposing that, to allow the Taxi and Private Hire operators to endeavour to recover to pre pandemic levels, (a) that the licences, numbered 2 to 7 within Appendix 1 to the report, be granted extensions for a period of 18 months from the dates of expiry of the current licences, and (b) that the licences, numbered 8 to 72 within Appendix 1 to the report, be granted extensions for a period of 12 months from the dates of expiry of the current licences; (4) intimating that, should the Committee be minded to grant extensions to the licences, the operators would be reminded of the need to maintain their vehicles in a roadworthy condition, have their vehicles undergo annual inspection tests, and have appropriate insurance in place, and (5) indicating that, towards the end of the 12 and 18 month extended licence periods, operators of Taxi and Private Hire licences, if they wished to remain being licenced, would require, when renewing their licences, to have vehicles that were age limit compliant with the Council's specifications. The Committee having heard the Solicitor (Licensing), in supplement to the report, then determined (1) that the licences, numbered 2 to 7 within Appendix 1 to the report, be granted extensions for a period of 18 months from the dates of expiry of the current licences, and (2) that the licences, numbered 8 to 72 within Appendix 1 to the report, be granted extensions for a period of 12 months from the dates of expiry of the current licences, with the exception of Taxi Operator Licence No. TO1 (North), as that licence holder should appear before the Committee to speak in respect of the renewal extension. Decided: (1) that the renewal applications, in respect of the licences numbered 2 to 7 within Appendix 1 to the report, be granted extensions for a period of 18 months from the dates of expiry of the current licences; (2) that the renewal applications, in respect of the licences numbered 8 to 72 within Appendix 1 to the report, be granted extensions for a period of 12 months from the dates of expiry of the current licences, with the exception of Taxi Operator Licence No. TO1 (North), as that licence holder should appear before the Committee to speak in respect of the renewal extension; (3) that it be noted that the vehicles referred to above will require to remain roadworthy, undergo annual inspections and have appropriate insurance in place, and that when the licences are next due for renewal, the licence holders will require to submit a renewal application, pay the application fee at that time, and will be expected to have acquired an age compliant vehicle, and (4) that it be agreed that, due to the continuing adverse financial consequences of the pandemic, that further restricted licence renewals for other operators with non age limit compliant vehicles be considered.