The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety has submitted a report to inform Committee of the progress made by Taxi Licensing during 2018-19.

Recommendations: The General Purposes Licensing Committee is recommended to:

1.    Note the contents of the report; and

2.    Make any comments and recommendations regarding the future work of the Taxi Licensing Function.

The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety had submitted a report to inform Committee of the progress made by Taxi Licensing during 2018-19.

The Licensing Officer introduced the report whichcovered data on service volumes, determined applications, enforcement carried out by the Authority, as well as Sub-Committee decisions and prosecutions.

In response to questions he explained that cases where complaints had been made to the licensing authority but no further action taken were the consequence of  not being able to substantiate the complaint for one reason or another.

It was observed that the current  sanctions available to sub-committees for dealing with  some transgressions were, arguably, too lenient. The legal adviser said  proposals to update the national guidance about  these matters were nearing completion; they would  expand the range of matters to be taken into consideration and, in some cases, increase the severity of the penalty.

The General Purposes Licensing Committee resolved to:

Note the contents of the report