Issue - meetings

The Licensing Committee will recommend the Proposed Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Licensing Policy to Council. This Committee is invited to add any recommendations of its own, particularly for the introduction of ULEV and Zero-emission vehicles.

The Director of Housing, Health and Environmental Services presented this report on the proposed Hackney Carriage/ Private Hire Licensing Policy, which asked the Committee for advice on the emissions and age of vehicles. He explained that the Council had a statutory duty to license taxis, to ensure public safety, to ensure that an important rural service was able to continue to operate and the Council complied with its objective to be “green to our core.”

Emissions and age of vehicles

The Committee noted that under the terms of the proposed policy, from 1 October 2021 all newly licensed vehicles will need to be less than four years old and have low or no emissions. The City Council would be changing their regulations in 2020. From 2028 all new vehicles or renewals would need have either ultra-low or no emissions.

Taxi drivers had requested that the proposed change from seven years be extended to nine years. The Committee had agreed to this change to show that it had listened to the concerns of the trade. It was noted that this would mean that in practice all licensed vehicles were a minimum of Euro standard 5, as this was adopted in 2011. After a brief discussion the Committee supported the change from seven to nine years.

Accessibility

The Resource Team Leader explained that the Government had provided a list of vehicles that were wheelchair accessible and had ultra-low emissions.

Charging electric vehicles

It was suggested that taxi drivers would need access to a rapid electric charging point, to make electric vehicles viable for their use. It was understood that LED footway lights could be used as charging points. It was suggested that each village should have a charging point for electric vehicles and Councillor Handley agreed to take this suggestion back to the Executive.

Handbook

The Director of Housing, Health and Environmental Services explained that the Council’s policy would refer to the rules in a handbook for the trade. The handbook could then be updated if the European standards were no longer in force after the country leaves the European Union.

The Committee RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL 

(a)       The petrol and diesel vehicle age on renewal be kept at 9 years but that additionally, all petrol and diesel vehicles must comply with at least the “Euro 5” emissions standards limiting CO, NOX and particulate matter emissions, introduced in September 2011.

(b)       The 2021 and 2028 deadlines for the introduction of ultra-low and zero-emission vehicles be agreed by Council.

(c)        That in addition to the vehicle age criteria, that clear standards are included in the Policy for the reduction of CO2, CO, NOX and Particulate Matter.

(d)       Cabinet should consider increasing investment in the provision of dedicated electric vehicle charging points for use by drivers and vehicles across the district to support the uptake of ultra-low emission and zero emission vehicles.

(e)       Council should balance the need to be ambitious in our environmental standards with the provision of sufficient high-quality vehicles to meet the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9