Agenda item

Purpose: To allow Members to consider the responses received during the 28 day statutory consultation period concerning the proposed fees in relation to hackney carriage and private hire licensing.

The Committee considered a report (Agenda Item 4) which set out the responses received during the 28 day statutory consultation period concerning the proposed fees in relation to hackney carriage and private hire licensing.

Suzanne McLaughlin stated that the fees were discussed at the November 2019 meeting and were then consulted on in accordance with the statutory provisions as set out in section 70 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. An advert was placed in the Newbury Weekly News on the 12 December 2019. The consultation ended on the 08 January 2020. In addition to the statutory requirement 387 letters were also sent to 158 hackney carriage and 166 private hire drivers as well as 63 private hire operators informing them of the consultation.

The consultation resulted in 28 responses, 26 of which were objections and two were comments related to fees but were matters which fell outside of the consultation. The objections were set out in appendix D to the report. Primarily these queried how the increase could be justified, raised concerns that it was an above inflation increase and was not wanted. In addition to the responses set out in the original paperwork the following additional comments were considered by the Committee:

Councillor Graham Bridgman stated that after discussing the issue with Officers he felt that I would be useful to present the information in a table to aid discussion. The information set out below was presented to Members at the meeting:

All calculations were based on an hourly rate of £57. In terms of the  Private Hire Operator Licence the new methodology was based on a per vehicle calculation of 4 hours including first vehicle plus 15 minutes per additional vehicle. The fee was payable up to a maximum of 20 vehicles. In terms of a renewal the revised methodology was based on a per vehicle calculation of 2 hours including  the first vehicle plus 15 minutes per additional vehicle, per year. The fee was also payable up to a maximum of 20 vehicles.

The following fees were also being proposed:

·         Hackney Carriage Licence:                                   £288.00

·         Private Hire Vehicle Licence:                                £288.00

·         Temporary Vehicle Licence:                                  £231.00

It was agreed that this information should be sent to the trade and they should be re-consulted as the table should help to clarify the proposed changes. A letter of clarification should accompany the document. (Suzanne McLaughlin to Action)

Councillor James Cole stated that the proposed changes would be fairer and should deal with the criticism that the Council was not undertaking the inspections covered by the fees. Members considered the impact the proposal would have on bigger fleets. It was noted that of the 63  private hire licences issued in West Berkshire 51 pertained to four cars or fewer, four to fleets of between five and nine cars, eight to fleets of 10 to 19 cars and only 1 to a fleet of 20 or more cars. It was agreed that the issue should be discussed at a follow up meeting with the trade and that this should happen during the 28 day consultation period. (Suzanne McLaughlin to Action)

It was agreed that advice would need to be sought from colleagues in the legal team as to whether the whole consultation would need to be rerun or whether it would be permissible to just consult with the trade.

Councillor David Marsh stated that he thought the principle had previously been agreed that the Council would consider decreasing fees for fleets with low emission vehicles. He commented that drivers were enthusiastic about electric vehicles and he wondered if it would be possible to install charging points ant the wharf taxi rank. It was noted that there was an issue with the electric vehicles as they were not able to transport some disabled passengers. Councillor Marsh commented that it would be useful to have a mixed fleet so that electric vehicles could be promoted.

Councillor Bridgman stated that the issue of encouraging electric vehicles through the fee structure had been discussed at the 18 November 2019 meeting. While he understood the imperative Sean Murphy had explained that the fees were based on cost recovery and that if it was possible to offer a reduction that this would have to be subsidised. This paper set out the requirements in terms of cost recovery. The issue of a subsidy should be dealt with separately.

Members agreed that the issue of subsidies was a national issue. Councillor Tony Linden stated that the Council’s representatives on the Local Government Association should be asked to raise this issue. It was also agreed that it would be useful to hold a discussion on this issue at a future Joint Public Protection Committee meeting. (Sean Murphy to Action).

RESOLVED that:

·         the trade should be re-consulted on the fee structure;

·         Legal advice should be sought as to whether the whole consultation should be re-run

·         If agreement could be reached the Committee would recommend to Council that the amended/fees set out in the report be adopted with effect from the 01 April 2020 following the .