There were no declarations of interest.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Minutes of the Committee meeting held on 19 June 2024 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chair paid a warm tribute to former Councillor J Wilson, who had sadly passed away.  She recalled with fondness his time as Chair of the Licensing and Regulatory Committees and his contribution to the work of those Committees in particular.  A minute’s silence was held, noting there would be an opportunity for all Councillors to remember him at the next full Council meeting in October.

Councillor P Tucker-Brown was welcomed to the meeting as appointed by Councillor P Snow.

Councillor A King substituted for Councillor E Kettle and Councillor I Mullens substituted for Councillor K Lee.

The Committee’s approval was sought for a revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy prior to a public consultation.

Officers set out the key changes to the Policy, which were suggested in line with updated guidance, statutory standards, related Council policies, benchmarking with other Surrey Licensing Authorities and practical experience of administering the licensing regime.  These were:

·         A new section summarising general duties within the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Equality Act 2010 in line with best practice guidance which had been updated in November 2023

·         A new section concerning Tax Registration requirements introduced in April 2022

·         An updated section regarding the National Register of Taxi License refusals, revocations and suspensions in line with updated statutory guidance in April 2023

·         A new section on compliance and enforcement

·         Updates to the driver licensing requirements in respect of work area declarations, certificates of good conduct, medical fitness, language proficiency and holistic assessment of information about drivers when determining any action against them

·         Updates to vehicle licensing including carrying children safely, fire extinguishers, CCTV and the Council’s approach to climate change and emission standards as set out in the supplementary agenda

·         Updates to operator licensing in respect of health and safety management, disability awareness training, and the location of an Operator’s office base

·         Clarity around the frequency of fare reviews

·         Substantial updates to Appendix D relating to the relevance of convictions, cautions and driving licence endorsements in line with national standards

·         Updating the knowledge test policy

·         Added clarity regarding imported vehicles in Appendices F and G

Officers confirmed that extensive re-formatting and reduction of duplication had also been carried out.

Officers also reported on a current consultation issued by the Institute of Licensing concerning their revised ‘suitability guidance for taxi and private hire licensing; which might have an impact on the Council’s own policies and procedures which would be assessed once the guidance was published.

The Committee debated the new Environmental Policy approach to licensing vehicles as set out in the supplementary agenda.  It was proposed that in line with the Council’s own fleet requirements from 1 January 2030, the Council would only licence hackney carriage and private hire vehicles (new and renewal) which were Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) as defined by the Vehicle Certification Agency (i.e. Euro 4 petrol and Euro 6 diesel).  One Member felt that a phased approach might be better and introduced from earlier.  It was noted that the majority of licensed vehicles (approximately 80%) were already compliant.

An amended motion was proposed that new vehicles would be required to be ULEV by 2028 and renewals by 2030.  However, there was no seconder for this amendment.

Officers were asked to record in the Minutes, at her request, the amended motion proposed by Councillor Mullens and the results of the named vote she called for on the substantive motion that was carried.

Officers would submit a report following the consultation to the meeting of the Committee scheduled for 8 January 2025.

Resolved that –

i)          the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as set out in Appendix A, be amended as set out in the addendum and be approved for public consultation; and

ii)         the results of the consultation be brought back to this Committee for further discussion in January 2025 with a view to approval of the policy accordingly

Resolution i) above was the subject of a named vote, with the voting noted as

follows:

In favour (4)

Councillors M Harnden, D Clarke, A King and P Tucker-Brown

Against (1)

Councillor I Mullens

Abstentions (0)

The Committee’s approval was sought for a revised Pavement Licensing Policy following legislative change introduced by the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

Members recalled that the aforementioned Act introduced a permanent pavement licensing regime in England replacing the temporary arrangements under the Business and Planning Act 2020.  The key changes to the Policy were set out in the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee in June 2024.

Some Members were concerned that the fees might be prohibitive for small businesses.  However, no feedback had been received during the Consultation period.  Therefore, the Committee was content to approve the policy unchanged, acknowledging that the fee was set on a cost recovery basis, and any income would be beneficial for the Council’s Licensing Service.

Resolved that –

the revised Pavement Licensing Policy following the 8-week public consultation period, be approved, to be effective from 24 September 2024

There were no exempt or confidential items on the agenda.

The Committee was given an update on the Tiny Forests project.

Members recalled that approval was given by the Corporate Management Committee in June 2024 to be included in a partnership bid to the Local Authority Treescapes Fund, alongside the lead applicants Spelthorne Borough Council and the other partner, Earthwatch Europe.

The funding bid was for the creation of Tiny Forests in Runnymede.  These were groupings of up to 600 trees planted in an area of approximately 0.49 hectares.  Additional trees in the form of Standards, Feathers and Whips for smaller planting arrangements could also be bid for.

Unfortunately, Officers were advised on 9 September 2024 by Spelthorne Borough Council that the bid had been unsuccessful.  The reasons for this were awaited following a request for feedback, from which lessons could be learned for future projects.

Officers hoped to maintain the positive relationship with Earthwatch Europe that had been established should such funding opportunities arise in the future.

The Committee expressed its disappointment and hoped that other projects would be forthcoming which would have positive benefits for the environment, the Climate Change and Health and Wellbeing strategies.

The report was duly noted.

The Committee received for information details of the Key Performance Indicators for Quarter 1 of 2024/25 which were approved at the meeting of the Committee in June 2024.

Officers reported that Community Services continued to perform well against the Key Performance Indicators set, with 25 service areas either meeting or exceeding targets.  Particular successes included CD6, which was the number of children supported through subsidised holiday club spaces, SAF1 regarding Anti-Social Behaviour reporting, and positive figures for three of the Meals at Home targets (SCS2, SCS3 and MH1.)

Members noted that the total number of Chertsey Museum users had been higher than usual owing to the special Coronation Assembly visit in 2023/24.  The Museum would be re-launching some soft marketing strategies to boost visits in 2024/25.  However, the number of school visits had fallen slightly owing to school budgets being stretched.  The Museum’s fees and charges would be reviewed, whilst being careful not to negatively impact its budget.  The continuing positive feedback from schools would be considered within the wider review of the Museum currently being undertaken.

In respect of Community Alarms, the progress with moving systems from analogue to digital had ben lower than anticipated at Surrey Heath.  This was owing to the Procurement process being incomplete.  Officers had prepared all the written documentation to appoint a main supplier and were hopeful that this would be achieved in the near future.

Officers reported a reduced number of referrals to the Social Prescribing Service, although overall the number remained steady.  However, the wider review of Social Prescribing taking place by the North West Surrey Alliance was a key contributing factor which might affect the arrangements in due course.

Officers were thanked for their report which was duly noted.

The Committee reviewed progress with the Community Services Service Area Plan 2024/25 Quarter 1 Update.

Officers advised that the Business Centre was on target to complete all of its primary objectives for the year with a greater level of detail in the Appendix to the report on key projects and areas of work.  Some of the completed objectives included the review of Community Transport, completion of the Section 11 Children Safeguarding Audit, the Play Space Improvement Programme, the procurement of a Disabled Adaptions Works Contractor and the launch of the Runnymede Sports Forum. 

A number of projects were in progress and some had not yet started as they relied on other factors including input from colleagues in other business centres such as Assets and Regeneration and Finance.

It was confirmed that all the SANG Management Plans had been written in draft and Officers agreed to provide Councillors with an update on the draft SANG for Hare Hill Open Space when it was available.

The report was duly noted.

The Committee noted the annual report on the work of the Community Safety Partnership.

It was acknowledged that as the report was very detailed, Officers focused on three key aspects.  These were: Violence Against Women and Girls, Domestic Abuse, and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB). 

Officers highlighted that progress had been made with displaying the new ‘StreetSafe’ stickers on lamp columns around the borough and that the Police had attended freshers week at Royal Holloway University of London to distribute reuseable (metal) straws and ‘spikeys’ to help keep individuals safe while enjoying a night out.

Members noted the continued value of the Domestic Abuse Outreach service provided by YourSanctuary, which had received 677 referrals for the Runnymede area for 2023/24.  It was reported that 342 survivors had accessed one to one support, 19 had accessed the specialist Male Service and 65, Hope2Recovery.

In respect of ASB, Members reviewed the statistics and types of incidents; the top three being fly-tipping, noise and litter/rubbish.  There had been a 24% increase in reports of fly-tipping and a decrease of 6% in ASB reports.  Officers agreed to consider how best to provide the Committee with details of ‘hot spot’ locations for anti-social behaviour such as fly-tipping.

Officers confirmed that take-up of Junior Citizen had been affected by the County Council’s remotely delivered Safer Communities Programme, which was intended to replace Junior Citizen.  However, as Runnymede’s schools like the project it was decided to continue with it.

Officers were thanked for their report which was duly noted.

The Committee was asked to determine a number of applications to the Youth Development Fund which had been through the latest round of consideration by an Officer/Member panel.

Members noted that the total fund allocation was £35,000 from which grants of up to £7,000 could be awarded.  The Committee was advised that 12 applications had been received and one subsequently withdrawn.  Officers were asked to provide Members with more details about the organisation that withdrew its application for funding and why (if such information held).

The panel considering the applications agreed that the first 6 projects on the list below should be recommended for approval and the last project was determined by Officers.  These were:

Four applications were rejected for a combination of reasons including location, previous funding, lack of opportunities for a broad range of young people and lack of detail in the application.  The rejected applications were from Runnymede Chess Youth Association, Eikon, Total Tennis and St Peter’s Church, Chertsey.  Officers agreed to provide Members with a breakdown of why the application from Eikon was rejected.

Officers were asked to consider a second round of funding in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Committee for the remaining balance [of £17,775] and to re-visit the maximum value of grant available accordingly.

Resolved that –

i)          Members approve the panel recommended successful applications to the Youth Development Fund Grant;

ii)         Members approve to reject the panel recommended unsuccessful applications to the Youth Development Fund Grant; and

iii)        Members approve the Officer recommended successful applications to the Youth Development Fund Grant

Resolved that –

the press and public be excluded from the meeting during discussion of the following report under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 on the grounds that the report in question would be likely to involve disclosure exempt information of the description specified in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.

In passing this resolution, all report originators were asked to note that in future potentially exempt information should be placed in a Part II Appendix and the substantive report to be in the public agenda wherever possible.

Councillor A King declared an Other Registerable Interest in the item on awarding funding from the Youth Development Fund to, amongst others, the Journey Church of which she was a member.  Councillor King did not vote on the recommendation that concerned the Journey Church.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2024 were confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Councillor T Gates substituted for Councillor A Berardi.