Issue - meetings

These are the first Taxi and Private Hire Policy documents for BCP Council since the establishment, on the 1^st April 2019 of a single local government area for the now dissolved boroughs of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Following a 4-week consultation period, agreed by members of the Licensing Committee at their meeting on the 17 September 2020, the Licensing Committee must now consider the responses received in response to the consultation exercise in respect of the proposed Taxi and Private Hire Policies.

In total 69 responses were received, the majority of these related to the proposed Vehicle Policy regarding the age at first licence and the proposed upper age limit, emissions and livery of vehicles as well as Chapter 16 relating to the quantative restrictions on Hackney Carriage vehicle numbers.

The Licensing Committee must decide to either include or exclude the suggestions and responses received and make changes to the draft policies as appropriate and provide reasons for their decision.

The Licensing Manager presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. The Licensing Manager explained that these were the first Taxi and Private Hire Policy documents for BCP Council since the establishment, on the 1^st April 2019 of a single local government area for the now dissolved boroughs of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Under the Local Government (Structural Changes) (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2018 the Council as Licensing Authority had 24 months from the date of reorganisation to prepare and publish policies for the new local government area.

The Council had undertaken a four-week consultation period in respect of the proposed Taxi and Private Hire Policies, agreed by members of the Licensing Committee at their meeting on the 17 September 2020. A link to the consultation had been sent to all licence holders. In total, 69 responses were received. The majority of responses related to the proposed Vehicle Policy, in particular the age at first licence and the proposed upper age limit, emissions and livery of vehicles, as well as Chapter 16 relating to the quantative restrictions on Hackney Carriage vehicle numbers. The Committee now had the opportunity to consider the responses and feedback received, amend the draft policies, and recommend the final version for adoption by full Council. Should the Committee agree to a single Private Hire relevant area, Members would need to recommend to full Council the adoption of Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

The Chair outlined the main issues raised in the consultation responses. These were: the age of vehicles, emissions, wheelchair accessible vehicles, the number of licences and zones, livery, and taxi meters. The Members Working Group discussed these issues at its meeting on 14 January 2021 and made some suggested changes to the draft policy documents, to strike a balance between the needs of the trade and the needs of the travelling public, alongside the requirement to publish policies for the new Council area.

The Chair explained the process for the Committee to consider each policy in turn, focussing on, but not limited to, the suggested changes as set out in the report. In considering the policies the Committee had regard to all documents provided, including the consultation report and other consultation responses received which had been circulated as appendices to the report.

A summary of the amendments in the report, which were accepted by the Committee unless otherwise specified, and the main points raised in the discussion, and the further amendments agreed by the Committee, is set out below:

Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver Policy 2021 - 2025

Section 7.4: Amended to state that training can be undertaken by any approved provider of licensed driver training rather than specify which providers within the document, allowing flexibility to add and remove approved providers as necessary without full review of the policy. The instructions for driver applications, included previously  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24