Agenda item

 

 

 

 

 

-           Combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Policy

-           Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Policy

-           Private Hire Operator’s Licensing Policy

 

To submit the report of the Head of Regulatory Department to receive the support of the committee to the direction of the proposed high level changes to the taxi licensing policies

·         Combined Hackney Carriage/Private Hire Vehicle Driver Licence Policy

·         Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Policy

·         Private Hire Operator’s Licensing Policy

 

Submitted – a report by the Head of the Regulatory Department requesting the committee’s support to review the licensing policies and to create a unified policy to replace the three separate policy documents. It was also noted that during its meeting on 22 June 2015 this Committee resolved that the policies and working practices relating to Taxi Licensing needed to be updated and reviewed following the increase in the number of applications being made to license a vehicle contrary to policy and following the Deregulation Act 2015 and the measures affecting the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

 

In relation to a unified policy, it was noted that the Local Government Association: (ref ‘Taxi and PHV Licensing – Councillor’s Handbook’ dated March 2015) strongly encouraged licensing authorities to create an unified policy that brought together all their policies and procedures in one place. Creating a single, unified policy that would be reviewed on a regular basis would provide clarity for drivers and operators, as well as strengthening the council’s position if there was a challenge against a decision in court.   

 

The attention of Members was drawn to the proposed high-level changes that would need consideration in relation to drivers, vehicles and operators, and in particular ‘grandfather rights’, ‘vehicle age specifications’ and ‘wheelchair accessibility’.

 

Under ‘grandfather rights’ it was proposed:

 

Proposal 1: That the ‘Grandfather Rights’ status for Arfon hackney carriage proprietors be removed from the policy and all proprietors be subject to the same conditions and vehicle requirements. It is also proposed that the vehicle specification of all vehicles in all zones be unified to create a more transparent and relevant policy for all proprietors across the county.

 

Under ‘vehicle age specifications’ it was proposed,

 

Proposal 2: In all zones, an application to license a vehicle for the first time as a Hackney Carriage or Private Hire vehicle must be in respect of a vehicle that is less than 6 years old on the date when the completed application is received by the Licensing Authority.

 

Proposal 3: In all zones, an application to renew the licence of a Hackney Carriage or Private Hire vehicle must be in respect of a vehicle that is less than 12 years old on the date when the current licence expires.  

 

Proposal 4: Gwynedd Council will permit the renewal of a licence of a Hackney Carriage or Private Hire vehicle beyond the upper age limit of 12 years if it can be shown that the vehicle is in ‘exceptional condition’.

 

Under ‘wheelchair accessibility’ it was proposed:

 

Proposal 5: All proprietors will be encouraged to license as many wheelchair accessible hackney carriages as they deem necessary.  However, Gwynedd Council will impose a requirement that for every 7 licensed hackney carriages in a proprietor’s fleet at least 1 hackney carriage of that 7 must be a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Therefore if the fleet size was 14 hackney carriages, the requirement would be that at least 2 of the 14 vehicles be wheelchair accessible.  

 

It was anticipated that Proposals 1 – 5 could be considered contentious changes to the current policy and conditions regarding Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Vehicles by some proprietors or users in the Arfon area.  However, it was outlined that these changes would be made in the spirit of ‘Ffordd Gwynedd’ and would ensure consistency for everyone across the zones. It was noted that the process of amending requirements was complex, and that the intention was to introduce policies that met the needs of Gwynedd’s citizens and ensured an effective Licensing service for all owners and users.

 

Regarding a timescale, it was noted that the Cabinet Member was eager for the Committee to receive a draft copy of the unified policy prior to the start of the consultation. Officials would aim to present a draft document at the next meeting (7 December 2015)

 

RESOLVED to accept the report in accordance with the amended recommendations:

 

The Committee authorises the Head of the Regulatory Department to commence a review of the licensing policies in relation to hackney and private hire operators, vehicles and drivers.

 

The Committee supports the overall direction of Proposals 1 to 5 as a starting point for the review.

 

 

The meeting commenced at 10:00am and concluded at 10:55am