Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on 24 June 2019.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 24 June 2019 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman subject to the inclusion of the following amendment:

Item 6. Convictions Guidance, Page 5, second paragraph replace the word ‘man’ with ‘many’.

To remind Members of the need to record the existence and nature of any personal, disclosable pecuniary or other registrable interests in items on the agenda, in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct.

There were no declarations of interest received.

Purpose: To provide an update to the Committee following the taxi and private hire licensing liaison meeting between the trade, Members and officers.

Julia O’ Brien introduced the report (Agenda Item 4) which sought to update the Committee following the taxi and private hire liaison meeting. The meeting had included representatives of the trade, elected Members as well as Officers of the Council.

The Task and Finish Group considered operator licence fees and fares and then a number of other issues were raised during the discussions.

Cabco were invited to come forward with a proposal in relation to fares. The proposal that they put forward was a 9% fare increase for tariffs 1 and 2 but that no increase should be applied to tariff 3. The Committee were asked to consider this proposal which would then be subject to a trade wide consultation.

Councillor Graham Bridgman commented that there was a subtle inaccuracy in paragraph 2.2 of the report. The Licensing Committee did not ‘reverse its decision to consult on proposed fares’. What had happened was that the trade had come forward with a new table of fares. Members had initially accepted the revised table but after Councillor Bridgman had done some analysis it became apparent that there were a few inaccuracies in it and therefore a meeting had been held where the decision was reversed. The Committee agreed to revert to the old fares and invited the trade to bring back a table that was arithmetically correct.

In terms of the structure for taxi fares Councillor Bridgman stated because they had grown organically the three tariffs were confusing. He therefore proposed a revised system which was based on tenths of a mile. He proposed a flag charge of £3 for tariff 1, a flag charge of £4 for tariff 2 and a flag charge of £5 for tariff 3. The charges were based on a ratio of 1.5 times tariff 1 (£2.40 per mile) for tariff 2 (£3.60 per mile) and 1.8 times tariff 1 for tariff 3 (£4.30 per mile)

Councillor James Cole commented that some of the charges were higher than those being proposed by the trade. Councillor Bridgman accepted this but stated that it should be remembered that this would be the maximum amount that they could charge. Councillor David Marsh commented that this appeared to be a rational, reasonable and fair approach and the increases would still be below inflation. It was agreed that Officers should consult on these charges and bring a report back to the next meeting. As Cabco had been involved in the initial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Purpose: To inform Members of the Fees and Charges which were considered and agreed  the Joint Public Protection Committee on 7^th November 2019.

Suzanne McLaughlin introduced the report (Agenda Item 5). She explained that the fees and charges were based on cost recovery. The Joint Public Protection Committee had discussed the fees and charges, at a meeting on the 07^th November 2019, which were set out in this report. Members were being asked to consider the fees and then make a recommendation to full Council in March 2020 as part of the Council’s annual budget setting cycle.

She noted that the following amendments needed to be made to the table on page 31 regarding the fees and charges for Animal Welfare licences:

It was agreed that the hourly fee should remain at £57 for 2020/21 and that a 2% increase should be applied to discretionary fees which was in line with inflation.

The most significant change in respect of Taxi and Private Hire Related Fees was that the new Operator fees were based on an administration fee for a new or renewal of a five year licence plus one hour for the first vehicle plus 15 minutes for each subsequent vehicle the operator had. This meant that they would be paying for individual vehicles instead of a band. This would be capped at 20 vehicles. The proposed fees would then be subject to the statutory 28 day consultation period.

The increase in costs associated with Animal Welfare Establishments were associated with changes arising from the enactment of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 in October 2018. Costs increased as a result of increased requirements in respect of administration, new higher inspection requirements and the required qualifications for inspectors.

RESOLVED that the amended fees be consulted on and that the Committee would recommend that full Council adopt them, subject to any changes arising out of the consultation, at the 03 March 2020 Council meeting.

Purpose:  To consider any actions to help reduce/avoid any unnecessary emissions which apply to licensed vehicles.

Suzanne McLaughlin introduced the report (Agenda Item 6) which related to actions that could be taken to reduce or avoid unnecessary emissions from licensed vehicles. It was noted that air pollution could have a negative impact on health as well as quality of life and the Council had received a number of complaints pertaining to idling engines.

The report set out three options for Members to consider:

1.    Undertake a targeted campaign to effect behavioural change

2.    Adopt delegated powers under the Road Traffic (Vehicle Emissions) (Fixed Penalty) (England) Regulations 2002 which would permit Officers to issue fixed penalty notices of £20 per ticket if drivers refused to turn off their engines when requested to do so.

3.    Installation of road signage around sensitive areas.

Sarah McLaughlin noted that there were two Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) in the District. The first was in Newbury (A339/A343/Greenham Road roundabout) and the other on the A4 Thatcham. The Council was required to produce an Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) and within this plan there were measures to be put in place to reduce emissions.

West Berkshire Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Terms and Conditions required vehicles first licensed by the authority to be less than five years old.  No type of Private Hire vehicle license would be issued in respect of vehicles that exceeded eight years of age from the date of the first registration of vehicle.

Vehicles were currently tested according to their age as opposed to the level of maintenance. Those vehicles up to five years old were subject to an annual inspection.  Vehicles aged over five years had to be inspected every six months and this included an emission check.   

Moira Fraser explained to Members that while they could note the content of the report the adoption of any measures would be a matter for the Environment Board as this issue would fall within their remit.

Councillor David Marsh stated that he would favour the adoption of fixed penalty notices and that he would like to see their use expanded to other areas including schools and at the level crossing at Thatcham Train Station.

Councillor Graham Bridgman stated that he supported Councillor Marsh’s comments and that the Council wanted to encourage people it had relationship with to switch off idling engines whenever possible.

It was agreed that this issue would be raised with the trade and that an article could be put into the next bulletin as everyone was keen to promote initiatives relating to good air quality.

RESOLVED that an article on idling be included in the next trade bulletin.