Agenda item

West Yorkshire Combined Authority Project to Harmonise Taxi & Private Hire Vehicle and Driver Conditions Across West Yorkshire and York

To consider a report by the Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory which provides an update on the progress in aligning (‘harmonising’) taxi and private hire vehicle and driver conditions across West Yorkshire and City of York (referred to as WY&Y in the submitted report), to improve passenger safety.

 

 

(Report attached)

 

 

 

Minutes:

The Chief Officer Elections and Regulatory submitted a report which provides an update on progress in aligning (“harmonising”) taxi and private hire vehicles and driver conditions across West Yorkshire and City of York with a view to improving passenger safety.

 

Appended to the report were copies of the following appendices:

 

·  The draft West Yorkshire and York convictions and suitability policy (Appendix No.1 referred)

·  The draft driver training policy (Appendix No. 2 referred)

 

The Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager, Communities & Environment explained the background to the report, the main issues to be considered and then spoke in detail about the opportunities for harmonisation which included the following:

 

·  CCTV in vehicles

·  Convictions policy

·  Vehicle specification

·  Driver training

·  Information sharing between authorities

·  Effective cross-border enforcement

 

Referring to the installation of CCTV in taxi and private hire vehicles, Members queried if it was a mandatory requirement for all local authorities.

 

Members were informed that currently the use of CCTV in vehicles was voluntary.

 

Members expressed surprise that currently there was no local supplier for installation/ maintenance of CCTV equipment.

 

In responding the Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager said there was no supplier that met the current Leeds City Council standards, moving forward any such standard would require the agreement of all 6 local authorities under the harmonisation proposals. A further consideration was how CCTV data was retrieved/ stored and used, guidance on this issue may be required from the Information Commissioner.

 

Members pointed out that bus operators and the fire service already had CCTV systems operational in their vehicles and suggested that such organisations be contacted to gain a further understanding of procurement/ maintenance and data management.

 

Reference was made to the convictions policy, in particularly the offence of death or serious injury and the proposal to refuse a licence indefinitely. Members queried if it was possible, under these circumstances for a driver to be granted a licence.

 

In responding the Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager said that in applying for a licence the applicant would need to demonstrate that they were a fit and proper person to hold a licence and provide necessary evidence.

 

It was the general view of Members that the policy should be identical across the region.

 

Referring to vehicle specification the Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager reminded Members that a working group had been established to review vehicle conditions; looking at the issue of safety, vehicle standards and with a view to encouraging more hybrid and electric vehicles. It was reported that the first meeting of the group would take place in the next few days.

Reference was made to the proposed Clean Air Zone (CAZ) with Members querying how out of town hackney carriage and private hire vehicles entering the CAZ would be identified and charged

In responding officers said that vehicles would be identified through the establishment of a National Database for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles which should be operational by 2020.

Commenting on driver training Members expressed the view that minimum standards must include literacy training, one Member suggesting that they would be supportive of the ESOL Entry Level 3 (or at level 2 if written) 

A few Members expressed concern about the Local Knowledge Test commenting that on occasions drivers had no knowledge of the local area.

In responding the Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager said the test included questions specific to an area and the use of an A - Z map. In respect of literacy, there were numerous other checks to assess the level of understanding.

Commenting on the information sharing, the Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager said there was some national legal considerations that needed to be taken into account as part of the harmonisation process, some existing case law did not help and clear guidance was required.

Referring to effective cross-border enforcement, Members queried if other local authorities had the capacity/ resources to undertake effective cross border enforcement activities.

In responding the Taxi & Private Hire Licensing Manager said all 6 local authorities had agreed the same policy but not all had the same capacity/ resources, but it was likely that the burden of traffic would head for Leeds.

Members queried if officers from other authorities undertook taxi and private hire enforcement operations in the Leeds area.

Officers confirmed that approximately every 4 – 6 weeks officers from other local authorities were involved in enforcement operations in Leeds.

In drawing the discussion to a conclusion the Chair thanked officers for their  report and welcomed the contributions made by Members.

RESOLVED –

(i)  That the contents of the report be noted and the suggested way forward be supported.

(ii)  To support the priority areas identified for harmonising policies and conditions, or establishing common minimum standards.

(iii)  To support the consultation on the two harmonised policies during October, November and December 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting documents: