Agenda and minutes

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Items
No. Item

1.

Public Speaking

Minutes:

Mr Drinkwater, Mr Mahoney and Mr Perry made statements to the Committee. Summaries of their statements have been appended to the minutes.

2.

Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest

To receive any apologies for absence and declarations of interest.

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Davey, Gerard and Hicks.

 

3.

Review of Uttlesford District Council’s Taxi Licensing Policies pdf icon PDF 125 KB

To consider the review of Uttlesford District Council’s Taxi Licensing Policies.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Following the public statements, the Chairman allowed the public speakers to table an email from James Button, a solicitor specialising in hackney carriage and private hire law, relating specifically to the issue of restricted drivers’ licences for school transport services.

 

At 8.00pm the Chairman adjourned the meeting to allow members to read the tabled document.

 

At 8.05pm the meeting was re-adjourned.

           

The Chairman said there was a need for the Council’s licensing department to move away from only carrying out the statutory minimum checks when processing licences and towards a more comprehensive system to ensure a higher level of public safety.

 

In response to the public statements, the Licensing Consultant said the policy review had taken in to account the Department of Transport’s draft guidelines, and also the Government’s response to the work of the task and finish group. He said the fact that a review of central government policy was forthcoming was not a reason for UDC to delay the renewal of its own policy, which was based on industry best practice.

 

The Licensing Consultant summarised the report for the Committee’s consideration, with specific regard paid to the proposals in the report that had been amended in light of comments received throughout the consultation.

 

New driver training and testing

 

Following consideration of responses received during the consultation period, it was agreed that no amendments would be made to the initial proposal sent out for consultation. This would be implemented within 6 months of the decision being made.

 

Update course for existing licensed drivers

 

Following consideration of responses received during the consultation period, it was agreed that no amendments would be made to the initial proposal sent out for consultation. This would be implemented within 12 months of the decision being made.

 

Suitability policy for the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Trade

 

Following consideration of responses received during the consultation period, it was agreed that amendments would be made to the initial proposal sent out for consultation. The result was an abridged Suitability Policy document, which had been shortened with the intention to allow all stakeholders to understand how UDC assessed fitness and propriety to hold a licence. This would be implemented within 12 months of the decision being made.

 

Driving Proficiency

 

Following consideration of responses received during the consultation period, it was agreed that no amendments would be made to the initial proposal sent out for consultation. This would be implemented within 12 months of the decision being made.

 

 

Vehicle Emissions Policy

 

Following consideration of responses received during the consultation period, it was agreed that amendments would be made to the initial proposal sent out for consultation. These were:

 

1) Removal of the age criteria leaving only the emissions criteria; and

2) The implementation dates to be moved back by one year.

 

Licensing standards for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire vehicles

 

Having considered the consultation responses, the following changes were proposed to vehicle standards:

 

1)    The addition of E7 vehicles to the types of vehicles that will be licensed;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

4.

Public Statements

Minutes:

Summary of Statement by B Drinkwater:

 

Mr Drinkwater thanked officers for hosting a number of informal forums between Licensing and the trade during the eight week consultation period that had just passed. He noted that ten of the responses received to the consultation had come from ULODA members. He said his major concern with the policy proposals related to the mandatory training for all drivers, which would also be applied to those drivers on school contracts. Instead, the trade were in favour of issuing a restricted ‘school’ licence, whereby the same mandatory training would not be required. He said he was willing to meet with officers regarding the legality of these proposals. In addition, expert advice had been sought from James Button, and he asked the Chairman whether this legal advice could be tabled.

 

Summary of Statement by A Mahoney:

 

Mr Mahoney said he agreed with much of the content of the proposed policy, but not all of it. He had concerns regarding the safeguarding of vulnerable children and believed the new policy would put them at greater risk. What was required, he said, was a schools only licence with specific schools only training and he asked UDC to look into the viability of restricted licences. He added that the proposals, if passed, would also have a negative impact on employment in Uttlesford. Furthermore, Mr Mahoney said service levels needed improving at UDC and asked that Licensing team were resourced properly to ensure he did not have cars parked up, and drivers waiting, for new licences or renewals.  To conclude, he said the survival of 24x7 was at risk if the policy went through and this would have serious ramifications for the vulnerable children that travelled in his cars to school.

 

Summary of Statement by D Perry:

 

Mr Perry said the process worked best when officers and the trade worked in partnership; the amendments made to the policy throughout the consultation proved this. He said the key issues of training and safeguarding still required addressing and cited the letter of James Button, expressing support for schools only licences. He added that the law was outdated and open to interpretation and schools only licences should not be dismissed without consideration. With regards to training, he asked whether online training could be provided to cut down delays in the processing of licenses.