Agenda item

The Licensing Committee approved for consultation, the draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing policy and conditions, subject to the incorporation of the amendments proposed by the committee (details of which will be outlined in the minutes of the meeting).

Myles Bebbington, Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing, presented the new draft Taxi Licensing Policy and amended conditions of licensing for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles, drivers and operators. The committee was asked to review and agree this draft document before it was issued for consultation.

The committee reviewed the draft policy, firstly raising a number of points regarding grammar and punctuation. These would be fed back to the Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing, outside the meeting.

The use of CCTV in private hire and hackney carriages was discussed:

·         Concern was raised that the Council would be imposing significant barriers to entry with the potential introduction of CCTV and wheelchair access requirements.

·         Some members expressed support for the use of CCTV in private hire vehicles for the protection of both the customer and the driver.

·         As a woman, Councillor Betson spoke in support of having CCTV in both hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.

·         Members who had sat on licensing appeals sub-committees which had involved allegations from passengers against drivers of offences of a sexual nature, advised of the potential advantages of having CCTV in hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.

·         Members felt that if CCTV were to be installed in hackney carriage and private hire vehicles, signage should be clearly displayed inside, outside and in the back and front of all vehicles, so that passengers were aware of this. The Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing advised the committee that clear signage would be needed in order to comply with data protection.

·         Members advised that if the requirement for CCTV was implemented, the policy needed to reflect that when a passenger was in the taxi, CCTV should be running.

·         Councillor Cuffley as the holder of a private hire driver’s licence, expressed concern regarding the potential cost of CCTV, which would make the cost of getting a taxi licence high. Councillor Cuffley supported the use of CCTV in hackney carriages for the protection of the driver. He did not feel that CCTV was necessary in private hire vehicles given these vehicles were pre-booked and therefore the taxi company would have the passenger details.

The Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing advised that officers would carry out detailed research into what was available regarding the installation of CCTV in taxis, and the potential costs of this. He informed the committee that enquiries had been received from taxi firms wanting to install CCTV in their vehicles.

The committee voted on the principle of making CCTV a requirement in private hire and hackney carriage vehicles, with the majority voting in favour of this.

The display of driver identification was discussed. Committee members advised that passengers in private hire and hackney carriages, needed to be able to identify their driver without having to ask for their identification.

The committee was informed that:

·         The South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge City taxi knowledge test had been trialled for hackney carriage driver applications and officers intended to roll this out to private hire driver applications as well. The aim of this was to raise the standard of drivers getting licences in South Cambridgeshire. The knowledge test would only be taken by new drivers, not drivers renewing their licence as these had already been deemed ‘fit and proper’ through the original grant of their licence. The committee was in favour of all existing drivers having to do the knowledge test and felt that those renewing their licence should have to take it as well. Unless the Head of Environmental Health and Licensing found that this would be subject to legal challenge, the committee was in favour of this being phased in over a five year period.

·         Under the proposed new policy, it would be mandatory for drivers to sign up to the Disclosure and Barring Service’s update service, so that the Council would be notified of any new convictions. The committee supported this requirement.

·         A group 2 medical report did not cover mental health. This report was the same medical standard that HGV and LGV drivers undertook and cost £100.

·         Panther Taxis had fed back to the Licensing service that it did not feel there were enough wheelchair accessible taxi vehicles in South Cambridgeshire.

The committee discussed the trigger point and penalty point system, with officers recommending the use of the penalty point system. All members voted in favour of consultation on the penalty point system rather than the trigger point system.

The introduction of safeguarding training for drivers was welcomed. The committee was informed that South Cambridgeshire was working with other local authorities in the county to deliver safeguarding and disability awareness training, so that a standard would be set across the county.

Councillor Hales requested it be made a requirement of operators to inform customers of the cost of their fare when booking a taxi, even if the customer did not ask this. The Head of Service for Environmental Health and Licensing agreed to include this in the policy.

Members were informed that Cambridge North Railway Station was in South Cambridgeshire, therefore taxis from outside South Cambridgeshire could only take pre-booked fares from here.

Point 3b of appendix A was discussed, which said that ‘The driver shall not allow any lone person to be conveyed in the front of any licensed vehicle’. As a private hire driver, Councillor Cuffley questioned how a driver could impose this if a passenger wanted to sit in the front of the vehicle, for example due to motion sickness. Councillor Hales proposed it be written into the policy that this be addressed at the time of booking, with passengers being informed at the time of booking that the driver could not allow anyone in the front of the vehicle unless the need for this was specified at the time of booking.

The committee was informed that this draft policy would go out to consultation  at the beginning of November 2017 and would end around the beginning of January 2018.  Responses would be collated and the outcome of the consultation would be brought back to the Licensing Committee and a final decision on the new policy to be taken by full Council after this meeting.

The Licensing Committee approved for consultation, the draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing policy and conditions, subject to the incorporation of the amendments proposed by the committee.