Agenda item

To consider a report containing an overview of the activity undertaken by the Service in 2019/20.

The Annual Report 2019/20 was presented by Julia O’Brien.

Julia O’Brien stated that the report contained an overview of the work of the Licensing Service and the Licensing and Appeals Committee and Sub-Committee over the last year.  The report also contained comparative data in relation to the number of applications.

In response to a question, Sean Murphy stated that animal boarders had been badly affected by the pandemic, the fees for that sector would be reviewed at the next meeting of the Committee.

Councillor Burgess stated that the report did not reflect a number of issues within Licensing that had occurred during the past year, which were not mentioned in the report.  She expressed frustration that the meeting in June had been cancelled due lack of business, when in her opinion there were issued that should have been discussed.  She stated that the taxi trade felt continually let down by Licensing and this Committee.  She believed that the Committee should have been reviewing measures to help the trade, in the context of the pandemic, much earlier; some drivers were already considering giving up or had already given up their licences.

Councillor Burgess expressed frustration that the Criteria Policy for Licensed Vehicles was reviewed in June 2018, agreed in September 2018 but was not published until July this year, despites many requests that it be published.  She also mentioned issues around animal boarders’ fees.

Councillor Burgess recognised that some good work had been undertaken, for example in raising standards.

The Chairman pointed out that the Council had helped many businesses during the pandemic, and that the taxis’ fees had been reduced in the past year.

Councillor Richards observed huge variations in the number of applications this year and last year, he asked if these were new applications or renewals.  Julia O’Brien stated that the figures represented a mixture of new and renewal applications.

Sean Murphy offered to review the figures, including the number of licences that were lost due to Covid-19, and present it to the Committee at its next meeting.

Councillor Kerr was interested to know the narrative behind the complaints listed in the report, and how many were complaints against the service.  She also asked about Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the service.

Julia O’Brien stated that there were not may KPIs for Licensing, apart from a KPI in relation to 28 days to inspect a new Designated Premises Supervisors (DPS).  Sean Murphy agreed to bring more information about KPI’s and complaints back to the Committee.

Julia O’Brien stated that the complaints referred to a wide range of issues, including any complaints about a licensed premise or the service.  Complaints relating to the PPP were collated by an Officer within the PPP and were not included in this report. 

Councillor Ferris stated that a number of Members in the Committee had concerns about some elements within the report.

RESOLVED That:

1)     The report be noted; and

2)     The additional information in relation to complaints and KPI’s will be provided to the Committee at its next meeting