Agenda and minutes

The Chair of Licensing, Councillor David Suthers welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the new Head of Licensing along with other officers who were present. Representatives of the Trade also introduced themselves at the meeting.

The minutes of the Taxi Trade Forum meeting held on 1 February 2018 are attached

The notes of the last Form meeting held on 1 February 2018 were circulated.

The Head of Licensing will outline the future arrangements of the Forum meetings.

The Head of Licensing explained that this and future meetings would be conducted in a more informal setting. It was acknowledged that the Trade had frustrations around the exchange of information and this was something that he intended to rectify. It was important to work together to address any concerns or improve on service delivery.

The Council had formally adopted the testing specification for modified vehicles (to take effect on 1 July 2018) at its meeting on 17 May 2018.

Work was still being undertaken in relation to signage for vaping. Clarity was requested in relation to guidance on signage for “no smoking” the provision of first aid kits and fire equipment.

The Council now had an agreed policy in place regarding professional qualifications and what was required. However, work was progressing to ensure that the attainment of the qualification was less onerous for the applicant.

The consultation had ended on the Age Policy with 10 in favour and 1 against. This information will now be presented to the General Licensing Committee in July.

The Head of Licensing outlined proposals for a new qualification course that would be provided by the Council for a more competitive price. It was also explained that the suggested relaxation/grace period would not now be implemented.

Although there was mixed opinions within the Trade as to why drivers needed to attain such a qualification. The Committee were still of a view that this was an integral part of their application process. The provision of a course to be delivered by the Council would benefit both parties.

Although there was a view at the meeting that an Operators Accreditation Scheme would put people off from applying for these positions, the Committee were still of the opinion that this was important, although it was accepted that telephone operators in other professions did not have to undertake safeguarding training. The Head of Licensing explained that the schemes implementation would be on a voluntary basis but commented that their consultation with taxi firms to date had been receptive to the idea.

Representative of the Trade asked if there was anything that could be done to remove the barrier on Highgate in Preston and on the Charnock Richard Motorway Services as it impacted on the length of their journeys. As the two areas were not in the South Ribble area, this was something that would need to be progressed with the relevant authorities.

Further concerns were raised about the accuracy of the digital/GPS taximeters and ask the Head of Licensing to clarify the situation at the next Taxi Trade Forum.

The Head of Licensing reported that the Council were consulting with other neighbouring authorities on the use of CCTV with vehicles. An update would be provided at a later date.

Meetings of the Taxi Trade Forum are scheduled to be held on the following dates commencing at 5.00pm in the Civic Centre, Leyland:

·         25 September 2018

·         12 December 2018

·         27 March 2019

It was agreed that future meetings would take place at 11am on the following dates:

·         25 September 2018

·         12 December 2018, and

·         27 March 2019