Agenda item

To consider a report seeing approval of the introduction of joint warranting for Licensing Officers across Surrey to enable improved enforcement of the taxi and private hire trade across the County.

The Committee considered a report seeking approval of a proposal to join a joint warranting scheme for Licensing Officers across all Surrey local authorities.

The introduction of a joint warranting scheme would empower authorised officers in Surrey Heath to inspect vehicles and take enforcement action against licensed drivers and their vehicles if they were operating in Surrey Heath regardless of which Surrey Licensing Authority had issued the licence. Any enforcement action would then be reported to the authority who had issued the licence so that further action could be taken as necessary.  Similarly, authorised officers from other Surrey authorities would be able to take action against drivers licenced by Surrey Heath if they were found to be driving a defective vehicle or breaking the terms of their licences. 

 The Committee was informed that, following legal advice, the decision to join a joint warranting scheme was one that was delegated to the Licensing Committee and the approval of Full Council was not required.  It was agreed that the recommendations would be amended to reflect this.

The Committee commended the proposed approach and requested that officers were proactive in exploring the possibility of extending the scheme to include neighbouring local authorities who were not in Surrey.

RESOLVED that:

      i.        Surrey Heath Borough Council delegate the Taxi and Private Hire enforcement functions under the legislation set out in Annex 1 of the report to the Surrey local licensing authorities, in addition to retaining those functions within the Borough;

     ii.        Surrey Heath Borough Council receive the delegated Taxi and Private Hire enforcement functions, as set out in Annex 1 of the report, of those Surrey authorities listed in the annex; and

    iii.        Officers will actively engage with licensing officers in neighbouring authorities to progress the introduction of the scheme beyond Surrey’s borders.