Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Early Intervention and Support.

The Director of Early Intervention and Support submitted a report to the Licensing and Public Safety Committee to seek Members approval of a new Taxi Licensing Policy.

The Council’s Lead Licensing and Enforcement Officer provided a verbal update at the meeting to amend recommendation (2b) in the report which would ensure that the consultation would not commence until the draft policy had been approved by the Director, Chair and Vice-Chair and the Executive Member for Licensing.

This report was presented in light of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee decision on 1 February 2017 to consolidate the existing Taxi Licensing Policies and at the same time adopt new conditions.

Members recalled making a decision at the meeting of the Licensing and Public Safety Committee on 1 February 2017, to consolidate a number of existing policies that dealt with the Licensing of Hackney Carriage Drivers, Vehicles and Operators. At the meeting, Members also determined to adopt a policy that dealt with the issue where licensed vehicles were persistently being presented with numerous advisory notes that were identified during the MOT part of the Council’s Taxi Test. The specific requirement intended to address the concerns of the Members from the policy stated; ‘the Council do not permit the vehicles to pass the Council’s Taxi Test where there are Advisory Notes on the MOT carried out as part of the test. These must be resolved in the same way as failure issues must be rectified before that garage can mark the vehicle as passing the Taxi Test’.

Officers received representation from Parry Welch Lacey LLP Solicitors on behalf of Chorley Autocare Limited by way of a proposed claim for a Judicial Review towards that decision specifically and in relation only to that part of the policy that determined that vehicles were not able to pass the Council’s Taxi Test where Advisory notes existed. The claim included other matters that were not part of the policy which were considered in the second report.

To address the proposed Judicial Review claim, Members were asked to remove the aforementioned criterion of application and renewal of Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicles. Removing the criterion would assist in addressing the substantive claim contained in the representation received and reduce the justification to apply for the judicial review. The Council acknowledged that whilst the policy was introduced for very sound motives to protect the travelling public, there were ambiguities arising from the policy and the mode of its implementation may not be clearly understood.

Members were made aware that should they remove the relevant requirement, it would be appropriate for Members to approve the proposed Taxi Licensing Policy, which remained the same as the present policy with the removal of the highlighted requirement. Officers reminded Members that should the relevant criterion be removed and proposed Taxi Licensing Policy be adopted it would be in the absence of any consultation.

Following discussion, it was reiterated to Members that the MOT was the lowest required standard; however there was nothing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72