To consider a report by the Head of Community seeking approval of a new taxi licensing policy for the District Council.
Contact:M Bebbington 387075
Minutes:
With the assistance of a report by the Head of Community (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Committee considered the contents of a revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy for Huntingdonshire District Council. Appended to the draft policy were proposed revisions to licensing conditions and a revised convictions policy for the Authority (Annexes 1 to 7) which will sit underneath the overarching policy.
The Committee were reminded that Members had approved a draft policy for consultation at their meeting on Wednesday 20th September 2017. The results of the consultation had been brought back to the Committee’s last meeting and been in favour of establishing an overarching taxi policy. A revised policy had now been formulated for the Committee’s consideration (as set out in Appendix A to the report now submitted).
Members were advised that the new policy sought to address new and recent statutory duties placed upon the Council, provided an opportunity to re-visit a number of existing policies and procedures and enabled the consideration and introduction of a number of new discretionary initiatives to raise standards within the taxi service..
The Licensing Manager was then invited to outline the significant areas in which changes had been made and Committee members went on to discuss these in turn.
The Committee noted that a decision was required as to whether magnetic signage or fixed signage should be permitted for Private Hire Vehicles and went on to discuss the advantages / disadvantages of both options. Having noted that East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire offer both alternatives and the intention of the Licensing Manager to undertake further enforcement and monitoring which would enable Members to revisit the matter if any issues were seen to be emerging, it was agreed that proprietors should be offered a choice of signage.
The Committee went on to discuss the wording of door stickers for Private Hire vehicles. Having noted that the intention was to remind customers that unless they have pre-booked the vehicle the vehicle insurance was invalid, Members did not agreed with the options for wording which had been suggested within the report. It was suggested that the wording should simply state “Insurance Invalid unless Pre-booked”.
Members also discussed the introduction of local knowledge and competency tests, together with those for Safeguarding, Child Exploitation and Disability Equality and noted that the Authority would be able to set its own parameters for success / failure.
With regards to Annex 2 – Vehicle Licence Conditions for Private Hire and Hackney Carriages, the Committee were advised that the changes which had been made enabled the Authority to specify much clearer guidelines for the maintenance of vehicles. Following a suggestion from Council Officers, it was agreed that Sections 6 (k) and (l) of these conditions should be removed to reflect modern day lifestyles.
Members were reminded that they had previously discussed whether there should be a uniform appearance for Hackney Carriage vehicles. Having noted the reasons for this not having been included in the draft policy before them, Members of the Committee remained of the opinion that this warranted further investigation and could be considered with a longer lead-in time. However not wishing to hold up the other improvements and having noted that this could be considered as part of further work which would be undertaken on air quality and emissions, the Committee requested that the Head of Community Service report back on the matter to a future meeting.
Whereupon, it was
RESOLVED
a) that the taxi licensing policy for Huntingdonshire District Council as set out in Appendix A to the report now submitted be approved to take effect from 1st January 2019;
b) that subject to the removal in of section k and I in Section 6 of the Vehicle Licence Conditions (annex 2) the conditions of licensing as attached at annexes 1 to 7 of the report now submitted be adopted to take effect from 1 January 2019;
c) that the wording of door stickers for private hire vehicles be “Insurance invalid unless pre-booked’ and that this sit alongside the unique license number to demonstrate it is a HDC authorised vehicle;
d) that the requirement to have permanent or magnetic door signs displaying the plate number issued by HDC be approved;
e) that the introduction of a 5 year maximum age of a vehicle at first date of licensing be introduced;
f) that existing drivers be required to complete the training on Safeguarding, Child Exploitation and Disability Equality;
g) that the Head of Community in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Operations and Regulation be authorised to make minor amendments to the policy and annexes that are considered necessary without the need to consult on the whole document;
h) that the Head of Community be authorised to investigate and implement the most appropriate and cost effective method of delivering the Safeguarding, Child Exploitation and Disability Equality training and the implementation of the knowledge, English and Mathematics testing. (The periods for implementation to be delegated to the Head of Community for determination in line with the processes put in place);
i) that in the event it did not prove possible to implement or deliver any measures proposed within the new policy by 1 January 2019, authority be given to the Head of Community to implement such measures as soon as possible thereafter; and
j) that the Head of Community be requested to report back to a future meeting on the potential to introduce a uniform appearance for Hackney Carriage Vehicles.
Supporting documents: