Agenda item

Licensing Committee

RECOMMENDED THAT COUNCIL 

Approve and adopt the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy with effect from 1 April 2020.

Note: Members are reminded that at its meeting held on 28 November 2020, the Council received a petition and agreed to give it due consideration when considering the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy and Conditions.  The petition is referred to at Appendix B to the attached report.

Council

NOTED          and gave full consideration to the petition presented to full Council on 28 November 2019.

Council AGREED   

1.    To approve and adopt the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy with effect from 1 April 2020 as detailed in the agenda subject to:

A.     Inclusion of the following amendments to the Policy, as detailed in the supplement report:

·           Paragraph 3.16 (d) of the policy being amended to:

“New Hackney Carriage vehicles will need to comply with this immediately, and those vehicles currently licensed as a Hackney Carriage will have to comply by 1st December 2021 Failure to do so will result in the vehicle licence being revoked, or not renewed.”

·         Paragraph 3.16 (h) of the policy being amended to:

“All vehicles fitted with a tail lift for wheelchairs must provide a valid Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) certificate of compliance to prove that the tail lift has been tested and checked to the required standards. It must be retested every six months as per Health and Safety Executive (HSE) requirements.”

·         Replacement of the table at paragraph 3.27 (k) of the policy with the table set out in the supplement report.

2.     The inclusion of an extra paragraph in the Policy under the heading “Requests for Data”:

“iv) There will be a report to Licensing Committee at least once a year showing how many times a request for data has been received, granted access to, and for what purposes.”

The Chairman explained that this policy had been proposed by the Licensing Committee and would usually be presented by its Chairman, but as she was chairing the meeting she invited Councillor Bill Handley, Lead Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Licensing, to present the report.

Councillor Bill Handley introduced this report, which invited Council to approve a new Taxi Licensing Policy for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles, drivers, proprietor (vehicles) and operators following an extensive public consultation process, which included workshops as well as Licensing Committee meetings.

Councillor Handley commented that the significant changes to the previous policy were in two main areas: those intended to protect the environment and public health and those designed to further protect both passenger and driver. A number of the new measures brought the Council’s policies into line with those in Cambridge City Council’s licensing policy.

Councillor Handley then proceeded to highlight the most significant changes to the policy:-

Age Limit

An upper age limit would be introduced for vehicles of 9 year for the renewal of vehicle licences from December 2021.

Plate Exemption Policy

A “Plate Exemption” policy would continue to apply, on request, for operators of executive/chauffeur-based work but the word “primarily” was replaced by the word “solely” to remove any ambiguity and to provide clarity and consistency.

Internal Vehicle Notice

A compulsory Internal Vehicle Notice was to be displayed by all licensed vehicles at all times. This was for the safety of the public to allow the on-board identification of both driver and vehicle.

Wheelchair accessible

The trade had made the point that there was currently a very limited choice of wheelchair accessible ultra-low and zero emission vehicles on the market. The Licensing Committee had listened to the trade on this but considered that the needs of disabled passengers should not be compromised. Since central government had made it clear that the sale of private petrol and diesel fuelled vehicles was to be phased out, possibly as early as 2035, there would be an incentive for companies to introduce suitable vehicles. This part of the policy would be reviewed from time to time as the situation changed as suitable vehicles become available.

Door signage

The new Policy had not changed from the previous 2018 policy on door signage, although Councillor Handley recognised that changes in the market had brought this matter into more focus. Councillor Handley referred to the petition received at the Council meeting in September 2019 but noted that ultimately the Licensing Committee had rejected the claim that it was difficult or potentially dangerous for drivers to have to change signs at the side of the highway and the door signage enabled a clear mechanism for reporting issues to the operator.

Installation of CCTV Cameras to all Vehicles (including “plate exempt”)

Concerns regards privacy had been discussed at the Licensing Committee of 10 February 2020. The operators of executive and chauffeur-style “plate-exempt” vehicles had asked for an exemption for their vehicles on the grounds of privacy. The Licensing Committee had borne these concerns in mind and had sought to reassure all operators that:

·         The images would be held encrypted in secure storage in the vehicle. It would be accessible only to authorised persons in the event of a request by the police or an enforcement officer.

·         Audio recording would be switched off and signage installed to reassure passengers of this. Audio records could be activated by either the driver or passenger if it was felt it was needed.

Ultra-low and Zero Emission Vehicles

The policy provided for the introduction of ultra-low & zero emission vehicles for all new vehicle licences from 1st December 2021 and for renewals from 1st December 2028. The renewals date was considered sufficient time for drivers and operators to plan for the change.

Councillor Handley drew attention to a number of proposed amendments to the draft  policy as were set out in the supplementary paper which had been circulated to all Members of the Council.

Councillor Heather Williams proposed, and Councillor Anna Bradnam seconded, an amendment to include the following extra paragraph in the Policy (paragraph 3.10 l) Requests for Data):

“iv) There will be a report to Licensing Committee at least once a year showing how many times a request for data has been received, granted access to, and for what purposes.”

Councillor Handley accepted this amendment, which was included in the substantive proposal without debate

The Chairman thanked the Interim Corporate Lead of Licensing and the Resource Team Leader for their efforts in producing the draft policy over the past months.

Councillor Handley proposed, and the Chairman seconded, the amended recommendations. A vote was taken and votes were cast as follows:

In favour (34):

Councillors Philip Allen, Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Dr. Shrobona Bhattacharya, Anna Bradnam, Tom Bygott, Dr. Martin Cahn, Nigel Cathcart, Sarah Cheung Johnson, Gavin Clayton, Graham Cone, Dr. Claire Daunton, Clare Delderfield, Sue Ellington, Peter Fane, Neil Gough, Bill Handley, Geoff Harvey, Dr. Tumi Hawkins, Mark Howell, Steve Hunt, Tony Mason, Peter McDonald, Brian Milnes, Judith Rippeth, Deborah Roberts, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Dr. Ian Sollom, Bunty Waters, Heather Williams, John Williams, Eileen Wilson and Nick Wright.

Against (0):

Abstain (0):

Council

NOTED and gave full consideration to the petition presented to Full Council on 28 November 2019.

RESOLVED

To approve and adopt the revised Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy with effect from 1 April 2020 as detailed in the agenda, subject to:          

a)    Inclusion of the following amendments to the Policy, as detailed in the supplement report:

·         Paragraph 3.16 (d) of the policy was amended to:

“New Hackney Carriage vehicles will need to comply with this immediately, and those vehicles currently licensed as a Hackney Carriage will have to comply by 1st December 2021. Failure to do so will result in the vehicle licence being revoked, or not renewed.”

·         Paragraph 3.16 (h) of the policy was amended to:

“All vehicles fitted with a tail lift for wheelchairs must provide a valid Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) certificate of compliance to prove that the tail lift has been tested and checked to the required standards. It must be retested every six months as per Health and Safety Executive (HSE) requirements.”

·         Replacement of the table at paragraph 3.27 (k) of the policy with the table set out in the supplement report.

b)   The inclusion of an extra paragraph in the Policy under the heading “Requests for Data”:

“iv) There will be a report to Licensing Committee at least once a year showing how many times a request for data has been received, granted access to, and for what purposes.”