Agenda and draft minutes

No declarations of interest were received.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Bagley and Niblock.

RESOLVED –

That the minutes of the meeting of the Appeals and Regulatory Committee held on 22 January, 2025 be approved as a correct record and signed by the chair.

The Licensing Officer presented a report on the proposed amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy. These are as follows:

Signage

Amendment to the wording relating to signage and the inclusion of the vehicle signage guidance to be incorporated within the policy.

Penalty points scheme

Amendments to the penalty points scheme to add a number of new offences/breaches and amendment to the penalty points table to clarify the number of months where an application would be refused, or points would be issued.

Fire Extinguishers

Review of the need for a fire extinguisher to be carried within private hire / hackney carriage vehicles.

Committee were presented with 3 options to choose from:

·        Continue with the requirement of a fire extinguisher and require all drivers to have appropriate training on how to use one;

·        Remove the requirement for a fire extinguisher;

·        Have a fire extinguisher as an optional requirement with training required if you choose to carry one

A request had been made by a driver to amend the colour of the Hackney Carriages to all one colour, rather than the black and white they currently had. Committee were given 3 options to choose from;

·        Continue to require hackney carriage vehicles to be black and white;

·        Allow hackney carriage vehicles to be one colour and specify a nonstandard paint colour ;

·        Allow hackney carriage vehicles to be one colour and specify a standard paint colour

Members discussed the lack of National Legislation in place to stop taxi drivers from other authorities working in Chesterfield, it was thought to be a safeguarding risk to the members of the public.

*RESOLVED –

1.   That the proposed policy amendments to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy in relation to signage and the penalty points scheme, be approved.

2.   That the requirement to carry a fire extinguisher be removed but that all drivers be advised during mandatory training that getting everyone out of the vehicle safely is the main priority in the event of vehicle fire.

3.   That Hackney Carriage vehicles continue to be black and white as per the current policy.