Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Howcroft-Scott and Kemp.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 9 December 2025.

The record of the meeting held on 9 December 2025 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

 There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

The purpose of this report is to update the Licensing and Safety Committee of the work that has been undertaken in relation to pavement licensing and its enforcement in Medway.

Discussion:

The enforcement strategy for pavement licensing was summarised for the Committee.

Members queried the number of businesses not complying with the policy and officers explained that this was difficult to quantify, and the lack of enforcement did not incentivise businesses to apply for a pavement licence. This had led to the creation of the strategy which would be implemented alongside a period of engagement, communication and education.

Members were concerned that officers would not have the time, resources and storage facilities to implement the proposed measures. Officers explained that enforcement would take place on set days and would be supported by the Street Scene Team who would work in partnership with Licensing to work with businesses and to remove and store furniture where necessary.

Members queried whether a contract was in place with the Street Scene Team and were informed that there was no formal contract, but a service level agreement had been agreed.

Members were concerned about the safety of residents and the number of other items for sale that caused problems blocking pavements in town centres.

Members requested that officers from the Street Scene Team be invited to attend the next meeting to provide clarity regarding the resources available to support the proposed enforcement strategy and that the issue be reviewed then. In the meantime, officers were encouraged to continue with the work they were planning to undertake.

Decision:

a)    The Committee reviewed the work that had been undertaken to create a clear procedure for enforcing the Pavement Licensing Policy.

b)    The Committee deferred commenting on the proposed enforcement strategy until further clarification could be provided at the next meeting regarding the resources required to support the proposed enforcement strategy.

The purpose of this report is to present a draft of the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy following the consultation.

Discussion:

The Assistant Licensing Manager informed the Committee that a six week consultation period on the proposed policy had taken place following the Cabinet approval of the consultation methodology on 18 November 2025. Minimal changes to the policy were now proposed.

The Committee were informed that 11 individual responses had been received in response to the consultation and one response from the trade association, Medway Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (MLTDA), which included responses from 113 of their members.

The Assistant Licensing Manager explained that the changes to the policy were that section 1.14 of appendix C to the report had been amended to stipulate the accumulation of more than six points, a paragraph on the Equality Act 2010 had been added to the executive summary and P51 in appendix E had been amended to ensure more safety and comfort for passengers.  It was proposed that the new policy would be implemented from 1 May 2026.

Nigel Jackson, Chairman of MLTDA, was invited to address the Committee and summarised four key concerns raised by members of MLTDA.

Vehicle age limit – The Committee were informed that the Department for Transport best practice guidance states that arbitrary age limits on vehicles may be inappropriate and some local authorities have removed them completely. The Chairman of MLTDA explained that an age limit had an impact on the retention of taxi drivers and impacted on financial viability.

Members recognised the impact a vehicle age limit had on the retention of taxi drivers and financial viability for taxi drivers and the majority felt that the conditions and standards imposed alongside the vehicle testing requirements were sufficient to ensure that vehicles were in good condition rather than relying on an upper age limit for vehicles. However, one Member did not agree with the recommendation to remove the age limit on vehicles.

Door signage – The Committee were informed that due to the large number of operators under one company name and issues with keeping door signage securely on vehicles, MLTDA members suggested that it was no longer fit for purpose and should not be required. The Committee discussed how signage enhanced safety by allowing passengers to identify vehicles and felt that the requirement for signage should remain in the policy.

SP30 speeding offences – The Chairman of MLTDA explained that if taxi drivers got six points on their DVLA licence then their taxi licence could be revoked with immediate effect. He explained that minor speeding offences could easily happen to any driver and could result in the loss of their livelihood.

Officers explained that the level of DVLA points had been amended to more than 6 points so a driver could incur 6 DVLA points from 2 minor speeding offences and still retain their taxi licence, but it would be reviewed if they had more than 6 DVLA points.

Members urged taxi drivers to notify the Licensing Team if they did receive any DVLA points as failure to do so had been an issue for some  ...  view the full minutes text for item 822.

This report sets out the outcome of a review of the allocation of seats on the Licensing and Safety Committee’s sub-committees following the most recent review of political balance which was reported to full Council on 22 January 2026.

Discussion:

The report was taken as read and Members did not have any queries.

Decision:

The Committee approved the allocation of seats for Licensing Hearing Panels and Licensing 1982 Act Hearing Panels as set out in Appendix A to the report.