The Licensing (Public Protection) Committee of Buckinghamshire Council was scheduled to convene to discuss primate keeper licensing, mobile homes site licensing fees, and English language proficiency assessments for taxi drivers. The meeting was scheduled to take place at The Oculus, Aylesbury.

Primate Keeper Licensing

The committee was scheduled to consider approving fees for licences issued under The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024. These regulations require all private primate keepers to hold a primate licence by 6 April 2026.

The report pack noted that Buckinghamshire Council currently licenses four keepers of primates under the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976. These licences relate to the keeping of lemurs and capuchins.

The report pack included a proposed fee structure for private primate keeper licences, with fees dependent on the number of primates kept. For example, the total payable for a Private Primate Keeper Licence for fewer than 10 primates was proposed to be £631. This was broken down into an application grant fee of £445 and a grant fee of £186.

The report pack also noted that the committee was scheduled to consider approving minor amendments to Buckinghamshire Council's Animal Licensing Policy to reflect the introduction of The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024 and the associated statutory guidance.

Mobile Homes Site Licensing Fees Policy

The committee was scheduled to discuss a draft Mobile Homes Site Licensing Fees Policy following a consultation review. The Mobile Homes Act 2013 permits local authorities to set fees to recover the cost of administering the mobile home site licensing regime. The aim of the policy is to set consistent fees across the Buckinghamshire Council area.

The consultation on the draft policy ran between 30 June and 24 August 2025 and received 8 online survey responses. The report pack noted that none of the consultation respondents disagreed with the Council's proposal to harmonise the approach to mobile home site fees across the whole Council area, nor did they disagree with the methodology used when setting the proposed fees.

The report pack noted that it was proposed that the annual fee is payable on or before 1st January, rather than 1st April as previously stated in the draft policy. It was also proposed that the exemption for sites with fewer than five caravans is amended to read Sites with five or fewer caravans as they are considered low risk.

Standardised English Language Proficiency Assessment for Taxi and Private Hire Driver Licence Applicants

The committee was scheduled to discuss a proposal to replace the Council's approved English language assessment for new hackney carriage and private hire licence applications. The proposal is to require all new applicants to undertake the same Council approved English language assessment, removing the current option to submit alternative qualifications.

The report pack noted that the requirement for taxi and private hire drivers to demonstrate English language proficiency is grounded in statutory standards issued by the Department for Transport (DfT) under the Policing and Crime Act 2017.

The report pack stated that the Licensing Service proposes to introduce a new Council approved test, to the same B1 level¹ of the current assessment, making use of AI technology to supervise candidates, removing the need for live invigilation.

Advances in technology mean that it is now possible to supervise and monitor candidates performing a test online remotely using Artificial Intelligence. These AI systems use webcam and screen monitoring to detect and flag suspicious behaviour.

Public reports pack 23rd-Sep-2025 18.30 Licensing Public Protection Committee.pdf

The report pack noted that the Licensing Service has gathered information and experience since implementation of the Policy in September 2021 which has informed proposed changes to the current approach.