Agenda item

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive approved the policy and appendices for adoption by North Northamptonshire Council with an implementation date of 1^st April 2023.

Reason For Recommendation: Each of the sovereign authorities currently has their own Taxi and Private Hire policies and standards in place, which have very different requirements for licensed vehicles, drivers and operators. One unified policy is required to ensure consistent standards and decision making across the authority.

The draft policy has been amended following feedback received from the trade and was discussed and agreed with Members of the Licensing and Appeals Committee on 11^th October 2022.

Alternative Options Considered: The Executive could further amend the content of the policy before implementation or could refuse to approve the policy. Failure to approve the policy would however result in the council continuing to operate under the four sovereign policies, resulting in the continuation of differing standards for licensed drivers, vehicles and operators and the council would not have one single unified policy which promotes consistent decision making.

The Chair, Cllr Jason Smithers invited Cllr Anne Lee to address the meeting. Cllr queried why no speakers had been allowed at the Licensing Committee when considering this item and stated that the Council was not listening to the opinions of those who had to live with the outcomes of decisions being made by the authority. Cllr Lee also queried emissions standards timings within the report.

The Chair thanked Cllr Lee for her contribution and clarified that there was currently no mechanism under the Council’s Constitution to allow for speakers to be involved at Licensing Committee meetings.

The Chair then invited Cllr David Brackenbury to introduce a report that sought approval for the North Northamptonshire Taxi and Private Hire Policy which would harmonise a number of legacy policies and standards in place for licensed vehicles, drivers and operators. One unified policy was required to ensure consistent standards and decision making across the authority.

Cllr Brackenbury stated that the new policy would raise standards and assist the Council in moving the trade locally towards net zero emissions. It was appreciated that this would be a balancing act and needed to be carefully phased. The Council had therefore taken into consideration concerns raised during the associated consultation process to do with age limits on licensed vehicles, fold down seats in certain vehicles and emissions standards. A separate piece of work would be undertaken regarding a training and testing regime for drivers.

A number of responses regarding zero emission vehicles had been received. The draft policy had provided a two-stage approach to help meet the Authority’s climate change target as below:

·           From 2025 no new applications would be accepted for vehicles fuelled

only by diesel or petrol and all new vehicle licence applications were

required to be zero emission vehicles

·           No licences for vehicles fuelled by petrol only or diesel only would be

renewed after 31^st December 2030 and all existing licences for petrol

only and diesel only fuelled vehicles would expire on 31^st December

2030.

In view of the feedback received and recognising the considerable investment required, the first stage had been removed from the policy. Cllr Brackenbury concluded by thanking all those involved in the production of a complex and involved policy document.

Cllr Lawman spoke to state that he was willing to engage with taxi drivers regarding the siting of electric charging points in North Northamptonshire to support in the conversion of the trade to electric vehicles. In addition, he spoke to welcome the provisions of the policy in relation to wheelchair users.

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive approved the policy and appendices for adoption by North Northamptonshire Council with an implementation date of 1^st April 2023.

Reason For Recommendation: Each of the sovereign authorities currently has their own Taxi and Private Hire policies and standards in place, which have very different requirements for licensed vehicles, drivers and operators. One unified policy is required to ensure consistent standards and decision making across the authority.

The draft policy has been amended following feedback received from the trade and was discussed and agreed with Members of the Licensing and Appeals Committee on 11^th October 2022.

Alternative Options Considered: The Executive could further amend the content of the policy before implementation or could refuse to approve the policy. Failure to approve the policy would however result in the council continuing to operate under the four sovereign policies, resulting in the continuation of differing standards for licensed drivers, vehicles and operators and the council would not have one single unified policy which promotes consistent decision making.