Agenda item

At the Committee meeting on 10 March 2022 the Taxi Trade raised a question about whether the level of provision and location of hackney carriage ranks was meeting current need.

Subsequently officers and members of the BCP Taxi Trade worked together to undertake an audit of all the ranks. Together all ranks were visited and any defects or suggestions for improvement was noted.

The provision of ranks is provided by the Highways team and following this audit the findings have been fed back to Highways for them to programme any necessary works.

The Interim 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 report had been prepared in response to a question raised by the Taxi Trade at a previous meeting of the Committee about whether the level of provision and location of hackney carriage ranks was meeting current need. Subsequently officers and members of the BCP Taxi Trade had worked together to undertake an audit of all the ranks, the results of which were set out in the report for consideration. The Chair thanked members of the Trade for their input into this exercise.

The Committee noted that there was no apparent structure or timetable for the completion of works summarised in paragraph 4 of the report and that this was dependent on the Highways team to prioritise on a case-by-case basis. In order to address these concerns Members agreed that the Committee should review progress in six months. To provide added impetus the Chair agreed to write to the relevant Director on behalf of the Committee to advise of the review and request a copy of the schedule of works.

The Committee also discussed the issue of parking by non-licenced vehicles on ranks, as highlighted in paragraph 5 of the report. Members were advised that in such cases a referral was made to parking enforcement for action and that this could only be addressed when someone was ‘caught in the act’. It was noted that signage on the ranks was clear. Members were advised that a parking enforcement officer had attended a recent Taxi trade liaison meeting where a request had been made for the team to check ranks when doing their rounds. In order to address these concerns Members agreed that the Chair should write to the relevant Director to ask that the problem of parking by non licensed vehicles on ranks be prioritised for enforcement and to request the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued in these circumstances over the last year.

Members thanked the Trade, Highways and Licensing teams for the current provision of ranks which it was noted was better than many other areas.

RESOLVED:

(a)  that the Committee notes the contents of the report and requests a further report in six months’ time to review the progress of the Highways team in programming the necessary works summarised in paragraph 4 of the report, following the audit of all taxi ranks in the BCP area;

(b)  that the Chair writes to the Director of Infrastructure at the Committee’s request to advise that the Committee has asked for a six-month review and to advise of the Committee’s views around the need for a structured and timely delivery of these works and to request that a proposed schedule of works be provided;

(c)  that the Chair writes to the Director of Infrastructure at the Committee’s request to advise of the Committee’s views around the need to prioritise enforcement against parking of non-licensed vehicles on ranks, a matter raised in paragraph 5 of the report and to request that the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued over the last 12 months as a result of such parking be provided.

Voting: Unanimous