Agenda item

Report by the Public Protection Manager (attached)

The Committee considered a report by the Public Protection Manager (circulated previously) regarding the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy proposed amendments.

The Public Protection Manger highlighted the following:

·         A lot of work had been undertaken to make amendments to the policy to bring it in line with the recommendations from the Department of Transport.

·         The Licensing and Community Safety Committee previously approved minor amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, during their meeting of 7 March 2023.  The further minor amendments proposed to the policy can be seen at section 4.1 of the report.

·         Wheelchair accessible vehicle approval: The current policy sought to incentivise the take-up of licences for wheelchair accessible vehicles, and this had in-turn led to an increase in enquiries from prospective proprietors.  Officers were very pleased to see this increase in interest in plating wheelchair accessible vehicles, but had noted that these enquiries had generally required officers to give additional information. The additional Appendix T, therefore gave further information on the certification requirements where vehicles had been converted to become wheelchair accessible.

·         Vehicle Inspections: The vehicle inspection form was fully revised as part of the previous policy changes, but upon reflection Officers believed it was useful to add some further information to the form, specifically minimum acceptable tyre tread depth requirements, and minimum brake pad thickness. A copy of the amended inspection form could be seen at Appendix B of the report.

·         Fire extinguisher requirement: The requirement for licenced vehicles to carry a fire extinguisher and maintain this extinguisher on an annual basis had been a policy requirement for many years. However, upon discussion with Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue representatives, they indicated a preference for drivers to exit the vehicle and call them in the event of a vehicle fire. Their comments were that “we would rather see drivers and passengers exit vehicles and get to a place of safety. Extinguishers were only any good if people were trained and know how to use them correctly”. It is therefore proposed that the fire extinguisher requirement be removed as it was not favoured by the fire service; was seen as a financial and administrative burden by many vehicle proprietors; and the administration of this requirement placed an administrative burden on the Licensing Team.

·         Additional medical requirement information: Officers re-appraised the medical form used by prospective and licenced drivers in North Devon, and as part of this identified that some Local Authorities provide further information in their policies on medical conditions which may be a bar to obtaining or holding a hackney carriage or private hire driver’s licence. All of the conditions identified fell within the current DVLA Group 2 standard of medical fitness for professional drivers’ requirement, and as such no change was being made to the medical standard itself, rather officers felt that setting this information out in the policy itself would aid clarity on this for applicants.

·         Door Signs: At Appendix M of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy it cited a requirement for Private Hire Vehicles to display door signs saying ‘advance booking only’. This requirement was approved at the September 2022 Strategy and Resources Committee following a public consultation. This consultation did not produce any significant negative comments on the proposal. The door sign requirement was intended to replace the previous requirement to display a sun visor saying ‘private hire’, however proprietors and operators raised the issue of door signs potentially damaging vehicle paintwork. Due to concerns raised, officers did not actively enforce this aspect of the policy and reverted to the previous sun strip requirement. Members of the Licensing and Community Safety Committee during their meeting of 7 March 2023, also concluded that sun strips could be used, thus clarity surrounding this point was now required.

RESOLVED that the amended Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy, as detailed at Appendix A of the report, be approved.