Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bellamy, Bexton, Brady, Dean Collins, Lisa Collins, Niblock and Perkins.

The Licensing Manager submitted a report informing Members of changes to Taxi Licensing under the Deregulation Act 2015 that would come into force from 1 October 2015:

·          Section 10 of the Act extended the standard duration of a hackney carriage/private hire driver’s licence to three years whilst a Private Hire Operators licence was extended to 5 years.

·          Section 11 of the Act allowed private hire operators to sub contract bookings to each other across licensing boundaries.

Currently Chesterfield Borough Council issued an annual combined hackney carriage/private hire driver’s licence (currently 533 licences) and an annual private hire operator’s licence (currently 31 licences).

The report set out the basis on which fees could be calculated as defined by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and detailed how the fees proposed for a three yearly driver’s licence and a five yearly operator’s licence had been calculated, taking account of the reduced administration costs.

The proposed fees were:

·          Three yearly Hackney Carriage / Private Hire Driver’s Licence - £199;

·          Five yearly Private Hire Operator’s Licence core fee of £623, plus annual vehicle fee of £27 per vehicle.

It was further proposed to amend the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy to introduce a 12 point penalty and referral to the Appeals and Regulatory Committee for non-payment of the annual vehicle fee for private hire operators.

It was noted that trade representatives had been advised of the proposed changes at the meeting of the Taxi Consultative Committee held on 15 July, 2015, and if approved the proposed fees would be advertised publicly giving a period of 28 days for objections. If any objections were made these would be considered by the Appeals and Regulatory Committee at a further meeting.

It was confirmed that existing safeguards would continue in respect of medical and DBS checks (three yearly) and DVLA checks (annually), and the requirement for drivers and operators to self-report any issues would remain. Where private hire operators sub contracted bookings to an operator in another licensing authority, the triple licence requirement for that operator, the vehicle and the driver to be licensed by the one authority would remain.

It was expected that the proposed changes would result in a reduction in income to the Licensing service. The implications of this would be considered along with any changes in the number of applications received and the impact of other potential changes in respect of the testing and plating of vehicles when the setting of fees for 2016/17 was to be considered.

* RESOLVED –

(1)       That the changes to three yearly Hackney Carriage / Private Hire drivers licence and five yearly Private Hire Operators fees as set out in the report be approved to take effect from 1 October, 2015.

(2)       That the revised fees be advertised giving a period of 28 days for objections. 

(3)       That approval be given to Officers to amend the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy in respect of changes due to the Deregulation Act 2015.