Agenda item

To receive and consider a report providing information regarding out of area vehicles working within the Borough.

Charlie Fletcher, Acting Lead Officer, Public Protection Partnership introduced the Out of Area Operators report.  He explained that a number of emails had been received from licence holders in relation to the issue of ‘out of area’ private hire vehicles (vehicles which were not licensed by Wokingham) which were working within Wokingham, in particular vehicles licensed by Transport for London (TfL) working for Uber.  He stated that the Licensing department also had concerns in respect of this issue.

Charlie Fletcher explained that under the existing legislation, private hire vehicles were not restricted geographically, meaning that they were not limited to working in the area in which they were licenced.  The legislation, being the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, and subsequent case law, confirmed that as long as the driver, vehicle and operator licence were all issued by the same local authority (or TfL), the actual journey could take place anywhere in the country.

Charlie Fletcher stated that one of the issues was that standards varied among different local authorities.  Additionally, local authorities did not have the power to stop and inspect vehicles.  He pointed out that this issue was not unique to Wokingham, and it had been raised in other areas.

Charlie Fletcher informed that a report published by the Task and Finish Group commissioned by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport had identified various issues and included in its report a recommendation that taxi/private hire journeys should either begin or end within the area in which the driver, vehicle and operator were licensed.

During the discussion of the item the following comments were made:

·           Members pointed out that there were four Members of Parliament in the Wokingham Borough constituencies, and the recommendations should reflect that;

·           Members stated that the report should refer to Wokingham Borough and not just Wokingham;

·           Councillor Ferris believed that a driver should not be precluded from crossing the border, he felt it was reasonable that drivers should be permitted to bring back passengers on their way back from the airport for example;

·           Councillor Richards was of the opinion that booking a taxi with Uber was equivalent to booking a private hire vehicle;

·           Councillor Burgess was of the opinion that local authorities should be empowered to carry out checks to make sure that conditions were being complied with; she also stated that TfL should be asked to carry out checks to make sure their vehicles were compliant with national standards;

·           Councillor Burgess agreed with the recommendations but felt they could be stronger;

·           Councillor Patman was of the opinion that national standards should be introduced;

·           Councillor Bowring was concerned that local drivers were being discriminated against because of the current legislation;

·           It was noted that the Police was not involved in setting out the rules around licensing drivers and vehicles;

·           Sean Murphy, Public Protection Partnership Manager stated that the legislation had not kept up with the current situation and there was an urgent need to review it;

·           In response to a question Charlie Fletcher informed that the courts had determined that Uber was not considered plying for hire.  If someone was found to be illegally plying for hire, this could be checked, but there was no evidence that this was occurring in Wokingham at the moment.

Members concluded that the recommendations contained in the report needed amending slightly to reflect the discussions at the meeting.  In particular, Members wished to include a recommendation for the introduction of national standards.  It was noted that the recommendations from the Department for Transport Task and Finish Group should be reflected in the revised recommendations produced by this Committee.  

Members decided to agree the final wording via email correspondence to the whole Committee.  

RESOLVED That:

1)     The recommendations contained in the report be amended to reflect the points raised during the discussion of the item; and

2)     The final wording would be agreed by the Committee via email correspondence.