Agenda item

To consider the report of the Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory, on the outcome of consultation on proposals to change one of the criteria within the council’s Suitability and Convictions policy for taxi and private hire licence holders relating to points on individuals’ driving licences for minor motoring convictions. The report sets out options to consider with a view to making a recommendation to the Executive Board.

The report of the Chief Officer, Elections and Regulatory presented the Committee with the outcome of consultation undertaken on proposals to change one of the criteria within the Council’s Suitability and Convictions Policy for Taxi and Private Hire licence holders in relation to points on an individual’s driving licence for minor motoring convictions.

The report included a summary of the consultation responses received and sample questionnaire, comments and objections received along with the Council’s response to the comments and a copy of a proposed decision-making flow chart. Additionally, the report set out some options for the Committee to consider with a view to making a recommendation to the Executive Board:

The Committee received a presentation from the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Manager which included the following key matters:

·  The development of a regional and consistent approach across West Yorkshire and York (WY&Y) to determine an individual’s suitability to hold a taxi or private hire licence, in the context of the Institute of Licensing (IOL) national suitability framework 2018.

·  In line with the IOL national framework, Leeds and the other WY&Y authorities had consulted on the threshold for refusing a licence at 7 points for minor motoring convictions. The other WY&Y authorities have adopted and implemented policies with the 7 point threshold, based on the individual’s record for the last 3 years.

·  Following representation from the taxi and private hire trade in Leeds, the minor motoring convictions criterion from Leeds’ previous convictions policy was retained, therefore currently the Council may refuse or revoke a licence at 12 points for accumulated minor motoring convictions. Separately a review of the minor motoring convictions criterion was conducted by a working group drawn from officers and stakeholders with a cross-section of views.

·  At the conclusion of the review, the working group recommended the Council consult on a revised criteria for minor motoring convictions and the Executive Board meeting of September 2021 supported that approach. Consultation was undertaken during October and November 2021 on the following proposals:

Ø  Applications for a taxi or private hire driver licence be refused when an applicant has 7 or more points for minor convictions showing on their driving licence;

Ø  Existing licence holders reaching 7 or 8 points for minor convictions will receive a warning and may be required to attend training; and

Ø  Existing licence holders reaching 9 or more points for minor convictions may have their licence refused or revoked.

·  The methodology and results of the consultation were presented in detail in Appendices A and B of the submitted report.

·  Since the initial West Yorkshire wide consultation in 2018/19, the Department for Transport issued Statutory Guidance for taxi and private hire licensing, which included a section on suitability, advising licensing authorities they must have regard to the guidance and have clear and compelling reasons for departing from the standards in the guidance.

·  The proposal which Leeds consulted on in 2021 could be regarded as less stringent than the original 2020 proposal and would not wholly align with the policies now adopted by neighbouring authorities.

·  Comparative information provided by 85 local authorities in response to consultation with them showed that 72 had implemented criteria for assessing minor motoring convictions.

·  The consultation received 2275 responses. 57% from members of the taxi or private hire trades and 43% from the public, passenger representatives and councillors. Of the 756 who responded in favour of the proposal, 674 (89%) were members of the public, passenger or stakeholder groups, 71 (9%) were licence holders. Of the 1481 who responded against the proposal, 1178 (80%) were licence holders, 266 (18%) were members of the public, passenger or stakeholder groups.

·  The amendment to the policy would impact on just over 1% of the current taxi and private hire driver workforce – in July 2022 only 72 drivers had 7 or more points on their driving licence, out of a workforce of 6019.

·  Motoring convictions and endorsements are the most common issue the Licensing Authority will consider when determining whether an individual is suitable to hold a taxi or private hire driver licence, reflecting on the importance of safe driving.

In conclusion the Committee was directed to paragraphs 38 and 39 of the report for their consideration:

a)  The proposed criterion is approved without further amendment;

b)  The proposed criterion is amended having regard to the consultation responses, setting out what the amended criterion should be (as set out in paragraph 39 of the report); or

c)  The proposed criterion should not be approved or amended, and that further work is required to determine a more appropriate criterion.

In relation to option b), and in relation to the consultation responses, Members were advised that minor amendments such as those seeking to respond to driver concerns and provide further mitigation measures such as when warnings or training is offered to licence holders can be recommended to Executive Board for approval. The specific proposals could be amended from those consulted upon to state the following and summarised in the flowcharts in Appendix C:

·  Applications for a new taxi or private hire driver licence will not be granted when an applicant has 7 or more points for minor motoring convictions showing on their driving licence.

·  Existing licence holders reaching 7 or more points for minor motoring convictions will receive a warning and will only be required to attend appropriate training.

·  Existing licence holders reaching 9 points or more for minor motoring convictions and who have previously attended training under this policy may have their licence refused or revoked dependent on the individual circumstances of the driver concerned and offences committed. In considering such action, the intention of the policy will be to only refuse or revoke a licence where there are very clear concerns for public safety.

During discussions, the following matters were considered:

·  The evidence to support the view that the proposed policy will improve public safety. Members noted the response that driving standards were the second highest source of complaint from passengers, 200-300 accidents and 80-100 complaints were reported annually to the Taxi and Private hire Licensing Section, however this was balanced with the knowledge that 80% of taxi and private hire drivers had no points on their licence and approximately 3 million taxi and private hire journeys were made each year.

·  Assurance for taxi and private hire drivers that the decision making process will be transparent. Members noted the factors which decision makers would take into account which included how recently a driver had received remedial training, how long points had been held on the licence/were the points close to expiring. A suggestion to implement a further step to the decision making process in the form of a Member Sub Committee was discussed and supported by the Committee.

·  The requirement to have regard to the national guidance issued by the Institute of Licensing and Department for Transport and the need to evidence compelling reasons not to implement the statutory guidance when considering applications and renewals of taxi and private hire driver licences.

·  Timescales for dealing with the decision making process and the offer to provide an indicative timeframe in the subsequent guidance to be issued once the future policy is determined and adopted.

·  The breadth of consultation undertaken and the opposing views of the drivers and public.

·  The frequency of driver training provided; costs and the number of attendees who could be enrolled for each session. 

·  The fact that the Suitability Policy (minor motoring convictions) will not apply to Leeds City Council employees within the Passenger Transport Service, noting that this service is regulated by separate legislation. Members requested that although this matter does not fall within the remit of the Licensing committee, their concerns be raised with the appropriate lead officer.

·  Assurance that minor motoring convictions are an indicator of risk to public safety. Members noted the response that specific work on the correlation between conviction and risk had not been undertaken locally but that the national evidence and guidance was relied upon when drafting the policy approach, additionally, it was known that due to the number of journeys taxi and private hire drivers undertook, they were 3 to 4 times more likely than other drivers to accrue points on their licence for minor motoring convictions. The Institute of Licensing guidance set the figure of 7 points on a licence as the threshold for considering refusal of new applications for a taxi or private hire driver licence.

RESOLVED –

1)  That the outcome of the consultation be noted.

2)  To note the supporting information which provides broader context to the implementation of criteria relating to minor motoring convictions.

3)  That having considered the options set out in paragraph 38 of the report, Option b) be recommended to Executive Board:

The proposed criterion is amended having regard to the consultation responses, as set out in paragraph 39 of the report and detailed below;

·  Applications for a new taxi or private hire driver licence will not be granted when an applicant has 7 or more points for minor motoring convictions showing on their driving licence.

·  Existing licence holders reaching 7 or more points for minor motoring convictions will receive a warning and will only be required to attend appropriate training.

·  Existing licence holders reaching 9 points or more for minor motoring convictions and who have previously attended training under this policy may have their licence refused or revoked dependent on the individual circumstances of the driver concerned and offences committed. In considering such action, the intention of the policy will be to only refuse or revoke a licence where there are very clear concerns for public safety.

·  For a pilot period of 12 months any licences subject to potential revocation relating to minor motoring offences, be referred to the Licensing Committee or one of its sub committees for determination, to be reviewed by the Licensing Committee after 12 months.

(Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 16.5, Councillor Buckley and Councillor Richards required it to be recorded that they abstained from voting on this matter).