Agenda item

To receive and consider the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.

The Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy Public Consultation Responses and Determination report was presented by Keiran Hinchliffe.

 

The report contained details of the proposed policy and the consultation results.

 

In previous meetings the Committee had requested further information on the following points:

 

Advertising in hackney carriage vehicles

Different councils had different approaches to advertising, this was a local decision.  Most councils allowed advertising through an application process, those hackney carriages that wanted to have advertising in their vehicles had to apply for permission to do so.  It was recommended that a similar approach be adopted by Wokingham.

 

Manchester City Council did not allow advertising of alcohol, tabaco products, e-cigarettes, gambling or pay loans.  It was recommended that Wokingham take the same stance in relation to prohibiting advertising of the above mentioned products.

 

Certificates of good character

It was proposed that the policy be amended to meet the statutory requirement of three months.

 

Climate Emergency

Keiran Hinchliffe met with the Climate Emergency Officer for Transport, and it was recognised that the policy does not address climate emergency legislation sufficiently, this was due to the cost of electric vehicles and the current charging infrastructure.  However, some effort was being made with Euro 5 and Euro 6 emission standards which were being proposed.  Overall, it was considered that the taxi trade provided a public service which may reduce reliance on private car ownership.

 

Euro 5 and Euro 6 requirements

In relation to school transport vehicles – There are 52 school transport vehicles in the borough, of which 20 would be negatively impacted by the Euro 5 and Euro 6 requirements.  There is discretion in the policy in relation to those vehicles with contracts with the local authority.

 

In relation to hackney carriage vehicles – There are 68 licensed hackney carriage vehicles, of which 13 would be negatively impacted by the Euro 5 and Euro 6 requirements.  Under the current policy, 7 of those 13 vehicles would not be able to renew their licences, as 15-year-old vehicles are not allowed to renew their licences.  Under the current policy, within the next two years those 13 vehicles would cease to have a licence.

 

Private hire vehicles were not affected by the Euro 5 and Euro 6 requirements.

 

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

 

·           Councillor Soane stated that some school transport coaches did not meet the Euro 5 and Euro 6 requirements. He wondered about the impact of enforcing that legislation and the potential cost to the Council if those vehicles could no longer operate;

·           Keiran Hinchliffe confirmed that there could be a cost implication to the Council.  However, the policy, as it was currently drafted, allowed for an element of discretion;

·           It was clarified that coaches were not covered by this policy, but minibus type vehicles were;

·           Councillor Burgess stated that in the proposed policy only one provider for drivers’ assessment was listed, this being Blue Lamp.  She believed that there was a long waiting list for this provider and asked if other providers could be added to the list to cut waiting times and to increase flexibility.  She also asked if anything could be added to help the situation in relation the medical assessments;

·           Keiran Hinchliffe explained that there were potential tender opportunities that could be pursued in relation to training providers;

·           In relation to the medical assessment, following an audit it was found that all drivers were able to comply to the medical assessment with their own GPs, apart from one driver.  This driver’s GP practice no longer issued driver’s medical certificates.  In that instance the Licensing Authority asked for written confirmation that the GP practice no longer provided driver’s medical certificates and allowed this driver to use a private GP;

·           It was proposed that the policy continues to ask for driver’s own GP assessments, as this is a strong regulatory standard, but that a common-sense approach be taken in unique individual circumstances;

·           With regards to drivers’ assessments, it was explained that these assessments were only required of new drivers, they were not required for renewals.  Although this was not a statutory requirement, it was recommended that it be maintained to keep the high standards expected;

·           With regards to the training providers, Councillor Burgess suggested adding the following wording: ‘training will be provided by Blue Lamp and other Council approved providers’;

·           Neil Allen suggested that the Committee could delegate the final wording of amendments to the Director and himself, and the amendments could be brough back to the Committee at its next meeting for approval;

·           Councillor Kerr struggled with the fact that it was necessary to have enough vehicles to transport children to school, but it was also import to consider public health and the pollutants.  She pointed out the Euro 5 regulations had come into effect 12 years ago, and some vehicles were still not complaint.  She wondered if there was a way to use a sliding scale to help licensees to achieve Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards?;

·           Keiran Hinchliffe informed that the school transport fleet consisted of older cars.  He agreed that a sliding scale could be looked at;

·           Councillor Kerr asked that the policy aimed to promote compliance with Euro 5 and Euro 6 standards.  She expressed concern that these older vehicles would be producing pollutants outside of schools and negatively impacting on children’s health.  At the same time she understood the complexity of balancing public health needs against the need to take children to school;

·           Neil Allen suggested that Officers could look at options around age limits for school vehicles which could be presented to the Committee at its next meeting.  He advised that the Committee could agree to the policy in its current form and consider the options later, and amend the policy accordingly;

·           Councillor Dennis asked if the regular car inspections covered emission checks and if this could be a way to regulate school transport vehicles;

·           Keiran Hincliffe explained that current there were no limiting factors in relation to school transport vehicles.  The Committee may wish to consider introducing an age factor, perhaps 15 years, in line with the age restriction for hackney carriage;

·           It was suggested that options should be considered outside of the meeting, in consultation with the transport officers and public health and brough back to the Committee;

·           Councillor Soane stated that vehicles should not idle outside of schools;

·           In response to a question it was clarified that additives to improve a vehicle’s emissions could only be added to newer vehicles.

 

The Chairman invited Alan Parkinson to put forward his comments to the Committee.  Some of the points he made are listed below:

·           He wondered why it had to one’s own GP to produce a medical certificate.  Keiran Hinchliffe explained that this was a trust factor and it was the criteria used by other local authorities, medical GP’s could be trusted to be accurate;

·           There were reputable private GP’s that could be used to issue medical certificates;

·           There was a balance to be found, between the need to get children to school and protect them against pollutants, it was a difficult situation;

·           Other councils used different criteria, around 75% of school transport in Wokingham was undertaken by vehicles and drivers licenced outside of Wokingham, giving Wokingham limited control over its school transport;

·           Wokingham needed to make some changes in order to attract more drivers and vehicles to license themselves in Wokingham;

·           He would like to be licenced in Wokingham but currently most of his drivers and vehicles were licenced by Reading.  He would like Wokingham to make it easier for him to licence his drivers and vehicles in Wokingham;

·           It would be better if the licensing rules were uniform across different areas;

·           Operators in Wokingham, Bracknell and Reading were all at the limit of their capacity;

·           This issue would not go away as thousands of children would continue to need school transport in the future, the issue needed to be addressed now.

 

The Chairman thanked Alan Parkinson for sharing his views and explained that the Committee would consider the points raised.

 

Councillor Dennis asked that a report be brought back to the Committee with options around additional training providers.  He acknowledged the point raised by Alan Parkinson that Wokingham seemed to have stricter criteria than its neighbouring authorities which was resulting in less control over licensees.

 

Councillor Younis asked if an effort was being made to align the policies across Berkshire local authorities.

 

Keiran Hinchcliffe explained that in the past there had been some collaboration throughout the Public Protection Partnership (PPP).  A firm of lawyers was hired to draft a policy for Wokingham and this, at the time, was shared with the PPP.  Wokingham was the first PPP local authority to go out to consultation.  There was a level of common ground with having to follow national statutory guidelines.  The other local authorities would follow the process with their own consultations.  However, this was a local policy.

 

Councillor Smith was of the opinion that any registered GP should be allowed to issue driver’s medical certificates.  He was concerned that if the standards in Wokingham were too high, there was a danger that drivers would choose to register with other local authorities with lower standards; this could result in loss of control.  He added that anyone with a driving licence issued before 1997 was able to drive a mini bus for up to 16 people.

 

Neil Allen explained that the legislation which regulated the taxi trade was antient, and there was no obligation in relation to aligning the policies in the area, this was a local policy.  The suggested national standards were an effort to implement national standards across all local authorities.

 

Councillor Dennis asked about the Officer’s response to comments made in the consultation, in particular about Uber.

 

Keiran Hinchliffe explained that the responses indicated that drivers wanted to be licenced by Uber.  However, this was not possible in Wokingham as Uber was not a registered operator in Wokingham; it was up to Uber to decide where they registered themselves.

 

Uber was regulated by TfL, and they were allowed to take bookings in other areas.  The only power the local authority had was in relation to plying for hire – Uber was not allowed to ply for hire.

 

Keiran Hinchliffe offered to bring back a report with comments on the responses to the consultation.

 

Councillor Montgomery asked about the certificate of good character for overseas.  Kerian Hincliffe confirmed that it was appropriate to adopt three months’ time, in line with the statutory guidance. 

 

After a robust discussion Members voted unanimously in favour of the resolutions listed below.

 

REOLVED That:

 

1)     The Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy is approved, to come into force on 1 December 2023, subject to the amendment proposed by Councillor Burgess; and

 

2)     The director will consider amendments options to the Policy in relation to school transport and Euro 5 and Euro 6 legislation, in consultation with the transport department and Public Health, and will bring it back to the Committee at its next meeting;

 

3)     A report containing Officer’s response to comments made in the consultation will be brought to the next meeting of the Committee.