Councillor Mundy informed the Committee that he had spoken on the phone with Mr. Khan, the public speaker, earlier in the day to discuss procedure for the meeting. The Committee were assured that the content any opinions on relevant issues were not discussed. 

The Deputy Chief Executive for City and Citizens’ Services has submitted a report to seek agreement of the licence fees for 2025/26 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged.

Recommendation(s): That the General Purposes and Licensing Committee resolves to:

1.    Agree the licence fees and charges for 2025/26 as set out in appendix 1 and recommend to Council for adoption.

Joshua Curnow, the General Licensing Team Manager, and Katie Thorp, the Supervising Senior Licensing Officer, were present throughout the meeting to present the report and respond to questions.

The Deputy Chief Executive for City and Citizens’ Services had submitted a report to seek agreement of the licence fees for 2025/26 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged. 

The Chair invited the General Licensing Team Manager to present the report.

The General Licensing Team Manager informed the Committee that the report seeks approval for the General Purposes Licensing fees and charges for the 2025/26 financial year. For commercial events, and events with no commercial element, fees have increased around 4% to cover costs. However, where an application meets the qualification of being a community or charity event, the fee is waived. The General Licensing Team Manager further explained that decisions regarding fees for scrap metal dealers are executive functions and therefore taken by Cabinet. Further fees included within the report were also summarised and the Committee heard of an average 4% increase across these.

The General Licensing Team Manager informed the Committee that he had received little time to formulate detailed responses to the public address and would respond to questions as best as possible. The Committee were informed, in relation to matters which would be raised by the public speaker, that between 2018 and 2023 no increases were made to taxi licensing fees. 

The Chair welcomed Mr. Khan, the public speaker, to address the Committee. Mr. Sajad Khan, Secretary of C.O.L.T.A, made a public address to the Committee as follows:

I am writing this letter to object to the level of increase in the Hackney Carriage Licence fees proposed today by licensing.  

I fail to understand how the officer can warrant or justify this amount of increase.  

Especially in the light of:  

1. Uber gaining an operator’s license and how that will impact an already struggling trade.  

2. Botley Road closure. Not opening till October 2026. 

3. Closure of nightclubs in Oxford.  

4. The investment in 2026 to purchase the electric taxi. 

So now was not the appropriate time to propose this level of increase of the fees.  

It’s not just about licensing duties or enforcement (lack of). What about the review of taxi ranks. We have been asking since 2021 for a review of the Gloucester green taxi rank in terms of appropriate signage at the coach station and at the rank itself including markings on the Gloucester green rank. To date, nothing has been done. It’s been 4 years. That’s a serious delay which has been impacting our trade.  

Both of the increases in February 2024 and today have been proposed at times when the trade has been pressured by licensing.  

Last year February 2024 when we asked for an extension on the emission standards policy, we had an 8% increase in the fees.  

Again today, the increase proposed is 4% alongside what would have been a discussion on the quantity control report and the potential killing off  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Deputy Chief Executive for City and Citizens’ Services has submitted a report to review and determine retention or removal of the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Quantity Control Policy.  

Recommendation(s): That the General Purposes and Licensing Committee resolves to:

1.    Remove the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Quantity Control Policy; and recommend the decision for adoption by Full Council.

2.    If the decision is to retain the policy, then;

Instruct Officers to complete a public impact assessment of the quantity control measures for presentation.

The item was withdrawn.

The Chair informed the Committee that the report was not in a suitable position to be presented or discussed.   

The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services has submitted a report to update the Committee on progress with Miscellaneous Licensing matters previously raised with or by the Committee.

Recommendation(s): That the General Purposes and Licensing Committee resolves to:

1.    Note the current position and planned officer actions regarding the matters within this report.

2.    Decide whether to pursue the possibility of incentivising smoke-free pavement licenced areas further, having regard to officer comments in this report. 

Nicholas Cox, the Business Regulation Team Manager and Matthew Stead, the Supervising Senior Licensing Officer, joined the meeting.  

The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services had submitted a report to update the Committee on progress with Miscellaneous Licensing matters previously raised with or by the Committee. 

The Chair invited the Supervising Senior Licensing Officer to present the report.  

The Supervising Senior Licensing Officer outlined the main updates since the last meeting. Firstly, that pavement licenses have become permanent and that the number of pavement licenses for cafes has increased form 11 in 2016 to 91 this year. The Committee were assured that further enforcement actions are being taken, and businesses now have the security of a two-year licence. It was also explained that all applications are now completed online to streamline the process and ensure ease for both businesses and council officers.  

Secondly, the Supervising Senior Licensing Officer referred to a request at the previous meeting of the Committee for a report on the feasibility of incentivising smoke and vape free areas. It was explained that due to new legislation in recent months, there had not been sufficient staffing capacity to complete this. The Committee were assured that national requirements for smoke free seating areas already exist and that whilst few complaints have been received relating to breaches of this in Oxford City, officers do regularly ensure advise is offered to businesses and enforcement action takes place as appropriate. The Committee were reminded that the report asks whether they wish to pursue the possibility of incentivising smoke free pavements licenses any further.  

Finally, in relation to street trading and traffic management controls, the Committee were informed that a lot of work has been undertaken within the County Council partnership and communication pathways which has focused on regularising street trading locations in the town as an ongoing project. The Supervising Senior Licensing Officer explained that this would protect traders and the Council in the future. The programme to review and regularise each trading site has now been scheduled to conclude in March 2026, a year later than originally planned. 

In regards the Development Review Group, the Business Regulation Team Manager informed the Committee that all avenues have been exhausted in efforts to regularise street trading locations and therefore, it is proposed that the Committee instruct officers to pursue the development review group in order to progress the project. It was explained that most applications will take 12 to 18 months, and the next meeting is on 19 February 2025. The Committee also heard that a lead councillor would be required to sponsor this application, and the request was made to the Committee for nominations.  

The Chair sought clarity of what the role would involve to which the Business Regulation Team Manager noted that the nominated councillor would be required to be aware and provide advice in line with corporate objectives. 

Members of the Committee discussed the request and a preference for a councillor with County Council awareness and responsibility was noted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services has submitted a report to seek agreement of the licence fees for 2025/26 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged.

Recommendation(s): That the General Purposes Licensing Committee resolves to:

1.    Agree the licence fees and charges for 2025/26 as set out in the Appendix 1 and recommend them to Council.

The Head of Planning and Regulatory Services had submitted a report to seek agreement of the licence fees for 2025/26 where the Council has discretion over the level of fee charged. 

The Business Regulation Team Manager presented the report to the Committee, outlining the purpose to seek agreement for the fees and charges for the year 2025/2026. The Committee were directed to appendix 1, containing details of the proposed changes to the fees and charges. The Committee were informed that minor increases have been applied to cover the Licensing Authority’s costs and inflationary pressures. The Committee also heard a summary of the license conditions relevant to the report.  

The Chair invited the Committee to ask questions.  

Councillor Ottino expressed dissatisfaction with the larger increases in this report compared to those within the General Purposes Licensing report and queried whether inflation was the only driving factor behind this. He requested an explanation of the 400% increase. Councillor Muddiman and the Chair shared these concerns.  

The Business Regulation Team Manager confirmed that in the year 2021/22 there were no increases, but that in consecutive years they have be increases which have averaged to around 4.2% over the last five years. It was explained that the increase in this report is to ensure lower fees in previous years are made up for, and that a debt provision project team has been established to ensure that the current level of 0 debt is maintained. The Business Regulation Team also predicted that a lower increase would be proposed next year. 

Councillor Muddiman sought further clarity on the 400% increase noted within the report to which the Business Regulation Team Manager explained was an anomaly as the fee is attached to a 2-year period for renewal meaning the cost of a licence is split across two years. In the past the renewal period was for 1 year (£100.00) whereas now it would be for 2-year period (£350.00) a modest increase of (£75.00 per year). New applications are charged at £500.00. 

The Chair sought to confirm that the charges, as proposed, seek to only cover costs and are not revenue generating. This was confirmed by the Business Regulation Team Manager. 

Councillor Ottino again queried why the fees in this report have a much higher percentage increase in comparison other reports, considering that the effects of Covid applied universally. The Business Regulation Team Manager assured the Committee that this is the cost of managing the whole process of the function and explained that it would cover the resources and time required to manage street trading.  

Councillor Rehman sought clarity around whether the fees for specific licenses are applied across the department, or whether costs are isolated to specific categories of license. The Business Regulation Team Manager explained that these fees only apply to licences and fees which fall under the category of miscellaneous licensing.  

The Committee resolved to: 

• Agree the licence fees and charges for 2025/26 as set out in the Appendix 1 and recommend them to Council.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

Recommendation: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2024 as a true and accurate record.

The Committee resolved to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 20 May 2024 as a true and accurate record.  

The Committee is next scheduled to meet on:

·       21 May 2025

·       22 September 2025

The Committee noted the dates and times of future meetings.