Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

Apologies for absense were received from Councillors Anup Pandey, Lee Wilkes and Malcolm Waters.

It was noted that Councillors Lora Lawman and Scott Brown were present as substitutes.

The chair asked members to declare any interests on items present on the agenda.

No declarations were made.

Following debate it was

RESOLVED                That the committee

A)    considered the report and consultation responses;

B)    Agreed to make a proposal to the Executive to replace the current four hackney carriage zones with one North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) zone;

C)    Agreed to make a proposal to the Executive to review the current Hackney Carriage Byelaws

Members received a report which a recommendation to the Executive in respect of potentially removing the hackney carriage zones in North Northamptonshire following a consultation process.

Members noted that following vesting day on 1st April 2021, while private hire vehicle licensing reflected the new unitary arrangements, historical legislation meant that hackney carriage licensing continued to operate in line with the pre-unitary authority areas. A report was put before the Executive on 14th September 2023 recommending that a consultation be carried out on removing the hackney carriage zones in North Northamptonshire.

It was noted that a consultation process was undertaken between 30th October 2023 and 21st January 2024. In total there were 256 responses received, of which 221 were received through the council’s website and 35 were received via email.

Members heard that the removal of the four local zones would remove the requirements for unmet demand surveys for hackney carriages in the Corby area, removing the need to pass the costs onto the trade. This would have also removed the number of hackney carriage vehicle licence currently identified as being the number sufficient to meet demand. It was also heard that new application processes would have needed to be developed to meet the requirements of the new area including a new “knowledge test” to reflect the modern demands on taxi drivers in North Northamptonshire.

Requests to address the meeting had been received from Henry Liffen, Neil Rilley and Ian Robb.

Ian Robb attended the meeting and addressed the committee raising concerns with regards to drivers not knowing streets across the entirety of North Northamptonshire and raised concerns regarding the detrimental and significant impact the recommendation would have on the trade.

Henry Liffen attended the meeting and addressed the committee and raised concerns regarding the detrimental impact the policy would have on taxi drivers and the risk of drivers not being able to operate effectively or efficiently in relation to journey times in unknown areas of the unitary boundary.

Neil Rielly attended the meeting and addressed the committee and also raised concerns regarding the risk to drivers not being able to operate efficiently in North Northamptonshire and also raised concerns regarding a knowledge test for taxi drivers and the complexity associated with it. Mr Rielly also raised questions as to whether the recommendations were for the benefit of residents and not taxi drivers.

Following debate it was

RESOLVED                That the committee

A)    considered the report and consultation responses;

B)    Agreed to make a proposal to the Executive to replace the current four hackney carriage zones with one North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) zone;

C)    Agreed to make a proposal to the Executive to review the current Hackney Carriage Byelaws