General Licensing Committee |
|
|
Report of Head of Housing and Environment Author: Laura Driscoll E-mail: laura.driscoll@southandvale.gov.uk Cabinet member responsible: David Rouane Tel: 07957 287799 E-mail: david.rouane@southoxon.gov.uk To: General Licensing Committee DATE: 24 June 2021 |
|
|
|
2. The relevant strategic objectives are ‘Openness and accountability’ and ‘Improved Economic and Community Wellbeing’. The policy will also ensure the council is meeting its statutory responsibilities.
4. At the General Licensing Committee meeting on 28 January 2021, the committee approved a consultation exercise to seek the views of the trade and relevant stakeholders on a revised policy, and to authorise the Head of Housing and Environment to make minor editorial changes before the document was sent out to consultation.
5. The consultation ran for six weeks from 10 February to 24 March 2021. It was a public consultation and was also sent to
· all licensed drivers and operators
· Community Safety and Thames Valley Police
· all registered on the council’s corporate consultation database (including residents, businesses and organisations)
· all local authorities in Oxfordshire (including Oxfordshire County Council) and other neighbouring local authorities
6. The report on the result of the consultation can be found at Appendix A, with the consultation report appendix separately available at http://southoxon.gov.uk/taxipolicy
7. There were 52 individual changes being proposed in the consultation. In total 182 survey responses were received.
8. Most of the responses, 69%, were received from individuals/members of the public and 16% from drivers or proprietors licensed by the district council. Over half of the individuals/members of the public said they lived in South Oxfordshire (59%), and around a third (35%) lived in Vale of White Horse.
9. The consultation highlighted that there is overall agreement for the proposed changes. Respondents took the opportunity to comment 505 times, and this provided 655 individual comments that are summarised and analysed in the consultation report.
10. The changes made to the proposed new policy at Appendix B as a result of feedback from the consultation are as follows:
Change of details
5.2 amended to state that it is recommended that all licence holders notify the council if they are likely to be unable to be contacted for more than four weeks; the original proposal was two weeks.
DBS checks for vehicle licence applicants
7.5 amended to clarify who would supply the DBS in respect of partnership applicants.
Hackney carriage tariff
7.27 amended to make it clearer that for journeys outside the district, the fare should not exceed the tariff unless a fare is agreed in advance.
Operators
9.11 has been added to clarify who should do the knowledge test in the cases of company/partnership applicants – a nominated person who is either a director, partner or company secretary.
9.16 and 9.19 amended to reflect disability awareness and safeguarding training is to be repeated every three years, rather than five. This mirrors the same requirement for drivers and is as per the consultation survey and summary changes document published.
Amended numbering in this section as there were two paragraphs numbered 9.19, two paragraphs numbered 9.20 and no 9.14.
Appendices A and B – vehicle equipment
The requirement to have a fire extinguisher is recommended to be retained. Whilst advice will remain to get away from the vehicle and allow the fire and rescue service to deal with the situation, it is recognised that it may be a crucial item in case of emergency.
Appendix B – Specification for special vehicles
The terminology ‘executive vehicles’ was removed from section 34 as this was unclear and included in error.
Appendix I
One reference to ‘guide dog’ has been changed to ‘assistance dog’.
11.Some of the comments received were not within the scope of the consultation but will be noted for the next review of the policy, such as suggestion that all licensed vehicles should display plates, a dress code for drivers, and making it mandatory to be able to accept card payments.
Proposed new policy
13. Some of the changes that were made to the policy reflect new legislation, such as the Deregulation Act 2015 and the Immigration Act 2016. The working practices of the licensing team have already been amended to ensure that the council complies with the requirements of such legislation.
14.A number of changes come directly from the Department for Transport (DfT) Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards which was published in July 2020. In their introduction to this document, the DfT states that they expect the standards to be implemented “unless there is a compelling local reason not to” (1.3) and that “as the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards might be drawn upon in any legal challenge to an authority’s practice…any failure to adhere to the standards without sufficient justification could be detrimental to the authority’s defence” (2.8).
15. The DfT also confirms that any changes in licensing requirements should be followed by a review of the licences already issued, but there should be a pragmatic approach to allow licence holders the opportunity to adapt or change their vehicles, or obtain the relevant training course or qualification.
16. Therefore, whilst the policy takes effect as soon as it is adopted, certain changes will be phased in and only imposed at the time the licence is next renewed. As a practical example of this, where existing licensed drivers are next due for renewal, the condition that they are required to attend refresher safeguarding and disability awareness training will then take effect, but the council would allow a six month window to allow the driver time to attend the training before considering any enforcement action.
17. If approved, the requirement to implement a tariff will commence as a separate project. We intend to consult fully with hackney carriage proprietors with a proposal as to how we would set the tariff, in advance of the public consultation required within the legislation. We cannot provide an exact timescale for this but would hope to complete this project within the next four to six months. The policy requirement will not be imposed onto hackney carriages until this work is fully complete.
18. The climate implications have been taken into consideration when drafting the policy and in particular the wording in paragraphs 7.16 and 7.17.
19. There are no anticipated financial implications arising from the adoption of the proposed policy.
20. The policy has been drafted to reflect current legislative requirements and statutory guidance. The policy must be taken into consideration when making decisions in respect of matters relating to hackney carriage and private hire.
22. There are no other implications at this stage.
23. Committee is recommended to (a) consider the results of the consultation exercise at Appendix A, and (b) subject to any further amendments approve the revised joint taxi licensing policy at Appendix B.
Appendix A – Report on results of consultation
Appendix B – Revised Joint Taxi Licensing Policy
