Agenda item

To present to members an update following the three month consultation carried between January and April 2024 to consider the draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.

The Committee had before it a report * from the Team Leader, Commercial, Public Health of the Licensing Act Policy Review.

The following was highlighted:

·         The report made a number of recommendations for the Committee to consider following the consultation that had been carried out.

·         The document was the same as previously presented at the meeting on the 2^nd December 2023 other than the changes made following feedback from Committee, members of the public and consultee responses.

·         The consultation ran for a period of 3 months and received 41 responses.

·         In addition to the 41 responses, 2 workshops were held - one with Committee Members and the other with Mid Devon licenced drivers, proprietors and operators and both sessions had received positive engagement.

·         Responses and feedback gathered through the survey and workshops had been revised and a number of recommendations were made:-

(i)            Proposal to introduce safeguarding training to be refreshed every 3 years.

(ii)          To introduce a Penalty Points Scheme from 1^st September 2024 - a robust appeal process would need to be put in place with a lead officer to ensure that there was a mechanism for licensee’s to appeal.

(iii)         In terms of driving training/assessment there was a requirement to pass an initial assessment but now with a recommendation to introduce 10 yearly requirements for driver training/assessments.

(iv)         There was a requirement for an English language assessment to be undertaken to test a driver’s proficiency which would cover both oral and written English language skills.

(v)          There were a few minor changes around medicals and rights to request a second opinion, ensuring that eye tests were included and the option of using any medical practitioner for a medical due to difficulties accessing a GP.

(vi)         The recommendation to implement new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards as a phased approach.  This would mean that new vehicles from 1^st September 2024 would need to comply with ULEZ; from January 2027 apply ULEZ standards to vehicles at both new and renewal application; and from January 2030 apply ULEZ standards for renewal and zero emissions for new applications.

(vii)        Dispatch and booking staff to have Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) checks which would be implemented by the Operator.

(viii)       Lost property checks to be removed and also the requirement to have a road atlas.

(ix)         There were other proposed changes which were not captured in the table:-

-       There was a proposal to increase the testing of vehicles to every 4 months however this was not supported and having reviewed the information it was felt that there was no justification to increase this therefore the recommendation was to stay with every 6 months as per the existing policy.

-       There would be an update to raise awareness that there was a National Register called NR3S which recorded taxi driving licences that had been suspended, revoked or refused in order that all local authorities could access this. The draft policy stated that licences would not be surrendered if the licence holder was involved in any investigation by the Council for non-compliance against the said licence.  However, on further review it was felt that surrender of a licence should not be accepted at any time, as the Authority may not be aware of a contravention at the time of surrender.  If a licence was surrendered and subsequently the Authority was made aware of an issue, this could have an issue on public safety, as the NR3s register could not be updated.  This only affected driver licences, as it was important that we provided a mechanism for vehicle surrenders and the NR3s database only related to driver licences.

·         It was recommended that paragraph 4.5 (page 61 of the Policy) would need to be updated and reworded as follows: “There is no mechanism to surrender a driver licence and it remains current until expired, revoked or suspended. This will allow the licensing authority to take action should any unknown pending sanction come to light and if necessary, take appropriate action against the licence, such as revocation or suspension and where relevant share on NR3s”.

·         It was also recommended to amend Paragraph 5.1.3 on page 62 by removing line (e) “You wish to surrender your taxi driver licence” as it would no longer apply.

·         Further meetings with the taxi trade were proposed to raise awareness of the changes.

Discussion took place regarding:-

·         Whether there was proof that taxi drivers had been refusing people with assistance dogs.  It was explained that complaints had been received by the Licensing Team though it was not a big problem but hoped that future Disability Awareness Training would prevent any recurrence in the future.

·         The procedure for dealing with such complaints and how allegations would be fully investigated if there was a breach.  Currently under the Penalty Points Scheme 4 penalty points would be given if such a breach took place.  It was suggested by some of the Committee Members that 12 points should be awarded which would then require a Regulatory Sub-Committee to be held.

The Chair thanked the Licensing Team for their hard work.  He had attended the workshops and was proud to have been invited and to see the team doing such a good job.

The Committee AGREED the proposed final amendments to the policy document outlined in section 4.1 of this report with the additional recommendations:-

·         Paragraph 4.5 (page 61 of the Policy) would need to be updated and reworded as follows: “There is no mechanism to surrender a driver licence and it remains current until expired, revoked or suspended. This will allow the licensing authority to take action should any unknown pending sanction come to light and if necessary, take appropriate action against the licence, such as revocation or suspension and where relevant share on NR3s”.

·         To amend Paragraph 5.1.3 on page 62 by removing line (e) “You wish to surrender your taxi driver licence” as it would no longer apply.

·         To change 4 penalty points to 12 under the Penalty Point Scheme.

(Proposed by Cllr L Kennedy and seconded by Cllr A Glover)

(Cllr F J Colthorpe and Cllr L Cruwys voted against the recommendation to change 4 penalty points to 12)

The Committee APPROVED the following recommendations:-

·         That the draft proposed policy attached as Annex A to include the additional amendments that were outlined by a verbal update be recommended for adoption by Full Council in July 2024, with a proposed implementation date from 1^st September 2024.

·         That delegated authority for amendments to the Penalty Point Scheme be given to the Head of Housing and Health.

·         That delegated authority to approve the standard for English communications assessment be given to the Head of Housing and Health.

(Proposed by the Chair)

Note: * Report previously circulated.

Reason for the decision as set out in the report.