Agenda item

The Trading Standards and Licensing Manager reported verbally to the Committee, advising that

·         the Licensing Office remained closed other than for appointments, with the majority of staff working from home except where office attendance was required for essential purposes;

·         the Council would soon be in a position to invite applications for grants in support of business costs, it being known that many drivers had been affected by Covid;

·         a lot of advice had been provided to licensed premises, for example in relation to lockdowns which had generally happened very quickly;

·         with regard to taxis, delegated powers continued to be used to determine a number of reviews.  Vehicle test results continued to be a concern, with 56% of public hire and 51% of private hire failing compliance tests.  Fail rates had increased during the Covid period so it could be drivers were reducing maintenance due to reduced incomes;

·         consultations on the Greater Manchester minimum licensing standards project had ended before Christmas 2020.  There was linkage to the Clean Air Zone proposals so it might be summer before recommendations were presented to the Committee; and

·         outstanding annual fees from licensed premises would be collected once these had re-opened.  While the number of licensed premises had fallen, applications for a number of new premises had been received.

In response to concerns expressed with regard to the reported vehicle failure rates, the Trading Standards and Licensing Manager advised the Council had suspended the previous ‘Star’ scheme and that ultimately vehicle failures lay with individual owners, not the operators.  While drivers should advise the Council which company they were driving for, in practice this did not happen regularly.  Once Covid restrictions were lifted it would be important to get back on track with Police checks, random checks and enforcement.

Members sought an update on considerations relating to the colour of public and private hire saloons, indicating that further to discussion at the previous meeting of the Committee there had been an expectation for this meeting to be taking a decision following the consultation held before Christmas 2020.  The Trading Standards and Licensing Manager advised that timescales on this issue had slipped and data from the consultation, which was part of the Greater Manchester (GM) consultation, had not been made available to date.  It was put to the Committee that it would be best to proceed on a GM-wide basis to prevent the possibility of Oldham choosing a different scheme to the rest of GM.  Members queried whether the GM issue had been raised at the previous meeting, and comment was made that GM should be expected to ask views of the Committee before a decision was made and so the Committee should determine an Oldham position.  In terms of timescales, it was hoped to bring a report on common conditions and policies for drivers to the next meeting.  The similar item with regard to vehicles, which had some linkage with the Clean Air Plan, may have to follow and require a special meeting of this Committee.

Reference was made to complaints received about taxi drivers not wearing face coverings.  The Committee was advised that while the drivers were exempt under their classification as ‘transport workers’, they had been encouraged to wear masks.  Passengers were however required by law to wear masks.

RESOLVED – that the report be noted.