Agenda item

Report of the Head of Licensing attached.

The Committee received a report of the Head of Licensing that provided Members with an update on proposed changes to the vehicle age policy relating to hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.

At meetings of the Taxi Trade Forum in 2017, the Borough’s licensed trade queried whether the differential approach remained justifiable and as a result the Committee agreed to set up a working group to consider the matter in detail.

The recommendation from the group was to replace the current differential age policy with a standardised one, meaning that if adopted, the proposed age limits for all vehicle (whether saloon or wheelchair accessible) would be six years on first application and up to 12 years on renewal.

The working group produced a detailed report of its findings and recommendations, which was consulted upon throughout the month of May 2018. Out of the nine responses received, only one was against the proposal.

The Council’s Environmental Health Department has since raised concerns about the proposed changes, highlighting the Council’s commitment to improving Air Quality, currently a key priority within the Corporate Plan. Environmental Health felt that a relaxation of the policy would allow for operators to extend the life of older more polluting and potentially less safe vehicles.

The Committee heard representations from a Council’s Environmental Health Officer who attended the meeting along with Councillor Karen Walton, Cabinet Member (Public Health, Leisure and Wellbeing) who asked for a deferment of the decision to allow for the Committee to consider key information in relation to vehicle emissions.

Members were also provided with further information at the meeting from Public Health England, who are looking to commence discussions with local districts in the Lancashire area to develop a consistent approach in respect of age limits on vehicles, bearing in mind the air quality impact.

Members of the Committee were of the view that the air pollution concerns had not been fully investigated and did not come out during the previous consultation. The approach to be taken by Public Health England could provide further information which would assist in a future consultation.

However, although, some concerns were raised in respect of air quality, there was general opinion that the working group had proposed the recommendations to bring parity for all licensed vehicles and would provide fairness to all in the taxi trade.

Members also received representations from members of the taxi trade who were in attendance at the meeting and whom had participated in the working group. They were apprehensive of a further review and circulated information that appeared to show that some, newer vehicles did not necessarily have reduced emissions. There was a real concern amongst the trade that they were being penalised for serving the public when other public serve vehicles had no age restrictions like buses or council vehicles.

The Committee debate was quite heated and there was a clear division amongst the membership.

It was proposed by Councillor Ken Jones, to recommend to Council to accept the recommendation of the working group to standardise the age limits to 6 years and 12 years for all vehicles, but to then undertake a further consultation to take into consideration the comments of the Council’s Environmental Health Department around Air Pollution. This motion was seconded by Councillor Harold Hancock.

An amendment to the proposal was proposed by Councillor Paul Wharton, seconded by Councillor Jacqui Mort, to defer the decision to allow for a further consultation to take place that would allow all relevant information to be considered. This motion was subsequently lost (Yes: 4, No: 5) with the Chair using his casting vote.

The original proposal was then voted upon and was subsequently RESOLVED (Yes: 5, No: 3): to recommend to full Council, to approve the standardising of the age limits of all vehicles (whether saloon or wheelchair accessible) to six years on first application and up to 12 years on renewal and then to undertake a further consultation on the lower age policy at the lower end of 4 years and 8 years.