Agenda item

Recommendations:

Executive is recommended to:

i.     to pass a resolution that the provisions of Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (other than section 45) shall be adopted within the administrative area of North Yorkshire Council, with effect on the 1 April 2023, with the caveat of the decision only taking effect if the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy has been adopted for the 1 April 2023;

ii.     Adopt the proposed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as shown in Appendix 1 of the report dated 7 February 2023, with the amendment identified in paragraph 2.4;

iii.    if adopted, to authorise the approval of minor and inconsequential amendments to the policy from time-to-time by a senior officer to reflect legislative changes or correct any inaccuracies;

iv.   if adopted to give approval for an Inclusive Service Plan to be implemented within 12 months of adoption

Considered – a report of the Corporate Director - Business and Environmental Services seeking:

a)    adoption of the proposed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy with or without further amendments, taking into consideration the responses to the consultation and the recommendations from the Licensing Members Working Group at its meeting of 24 January and 13 February 2023;

b)    approval to remove the existing licensing hackney carriage zones to create a new single zone for the North Yorkshire Council;

c)    approval for a senior officer to make minor and inconsequential amendments to the policy (if adopted) to reflect legislative changes or correct any inaccuracies;

d)    Approval to develop and maintain an Inclusive Service Plan (ISP) within 12 months of policy adoption

County Councillor Carl Les welcomed Mr Ian Crozier to the meeting and invited him to read out his public statement as follows:

“I attended your previous meeting on this subject where I presented a statement written by Richard Fieldman. Having considered the contributions made then and done some research I would like to offer some further reasons why the proposed policy should be reconsidered and not implemented as planned.

Having taken the time to reread your proposal, sadly, as exposed at the last meeting, I can’t see anything which improves access for disabled users. Of note is the statement made by the council officer that the policy of only issuing new H/C plates to WAV by Harrogate had had little effect in increasing WAV numbers. This was offered as a reason to justify the complete abolishment of the cap on H/C numbers. This conclusion is flawed.

This initiative was always going to fail because of HBC policy at the time limiting H/C to 4.9m excluded a large amount of common WAV due to their length, specifically those able to carry more than 4 passengers. So, it’s failure should not surprise anyone. I’ve included a list of currently available WAV conversions and their lengths. All could not be licenced as a Hackney carriage under the 4.9m rule.

1.      Ford Tourneo FX8 SWB – 4.972m (£46,750)

2.      Renault Traffic RX8 SWB – 4.999m (£46,600)

3.      Renault Traffic RX8 LWB – 5.399m (£47,900)

This illustrates that the regulations created a barrier to any driver considering the WAV market as a Hackney carriage, together with the capital cost it was foreseeable that the initiative would not work as hoped. Now, there are smaller cheaper WAV available, but their use is more limited. If you really want to incentivise this service, the starting point is justifying the capital outlay.

You offer to licence a vehicle with multiple uses, one that can seat up to 8 passengers, ply for hire on taxi ranks, be available at transport hubs like stations and of course, service-disabled people. This policy would not allow that.

You could go further. Para 41 of the new regs suggests grants be available for low emission vehicles. Why not WAV, why not reduce or abolish council and test fees for WAV. The service is needed, the council should partner with operators to achieve success not put barriers in place. But the elephant in the room here is that the rank/transport hub use you seek is only an advantage when H/C numbers are at the present level. Deregulation, which will cause massive over population of ranks, will be another policy created barrier to increasing WAV availability.

This is therefore contrary to NYCC stated aim to help disabled residents access services. The policy of a Hackney carriage free for all is poorly thought out and removes a valuable tool currently available to achieve your aims and most concerning is the fact that the last unmet demand survey had one criticism. Not enough wheelchair provision!

What it did identify was there was no unmet demand. In fact they are even able to put a number on it. The available evidence produces a number, anything less than 80 is considered to prove there is no unmet demand. The result of the Harrogate district survey – zero. (There’s nothing lower)

As for D of T guidance they do declare it best practice not to impose restrictions, but it also considers benefit v disadvantages. There are no tangible advantages but there are real disadvantages. Furthermore, D of T also recommends that if no unmet demand is found “a third way” aka restrictions remain.

The single zone issue was addressed at the last meeting and its plain to see that North Yorkshires size and population distribution negates any potential advantage but what can we learn from recent experience?

Northumberland County Council 2021 – Same survey, same considerations, same type of county. Single zone never considered (2 an option). Result – original 7 zones retained. No problems reported.

Durham County Council 2022 – same survey, same considerations, similar county but much smaller area (so some justification for reduced dead mileage) result – absolute chaos. Taxi ranks massively overpopulated. Increased congestion. Complaints from drivers and the public. Result – imminent public meeting to address taxi problems where there was none before. Cause – DEREGULATION.

Recent experience must be our best guide. Do not deregulate. Please retain the current system of zones to protect the supply in each area and keep the cap on Hackney carriages to protect the number of WAV (HBC – 22) and to encourage more.

Whilst North Yorkshire does not have significant numbers of residents from Ethnic minorities it became apparent to me, coming into the trade last summer that the majority of drivers are from this group. I gained the opportunity to speak with many, some even refugees from conflict, at length about their jobs. I found that all considered it their full time occupation. They were proud to run a hackney carriage and considered it an achievement which was reflected in the immaculate cars they operated and great work ethic. An education for me for which I’m grateful. For many, English is not there first language, and they often find the officialdom when dealing with public bodies difficult. They’re now unsure of their futures and do not understand why the County Council is proposing to implement changes that make no sense and will harm them and their families.

All of this has motivated me to address you today.  I urge you to reconsider.”

In response, Daniel Harry, Democratic Services & Scrutiny Manager confirmed that licensing officers supporting the LGR Licensing Members Working Group had chosen not to provide a written response to the above statement on the grounds that the issues raised had been covered in the report, and in their previous written responses to the public statements made at the Executive meeting on 7 Feb 2023.

As a supplementary question, Mr Crozier queried what the proposed policy would do to address the need for more taxis in rural areas where bus services had been lost or reduced, in particular accessible taxis.

County Councillor Derek Bastiman introduced the report and confirmed that as requested by the Executive at its meeting on 7 February 2023, the LGR Licensing Members Working Group had held a further meeting to discuss the draft Policy proposed by officers.  He noted that meeting had resulted in some small amendments to the draft Policy as detailed in the report.  

In response to Mr Croziers’ statement he confirmed the issues raised would be considered and consulted on as part of the development of an Inclusive Service Plan.  In regard to the supplementary question, he confirmed there had been many consultation responses relating to the issue of rurality and confirmed that as part of the planned development of an Inclusive Service Plan, the issue of the unmet needs of residents in rural communities would be considered, including their need for accessible transport. 

In drawing attention to the recommendations in the report, County Councillor Derek Bastiman proposed an additional recommendation that the LGR Licensing Members Working Group hold a further meeting in 3 months’ time to consider the draft public consultation arising from the development of an Inclusive Service Plan (ISP), and to provide an opportunity for all members to feed in proposals for any further revisions required to the new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.  Finally, he acknowledged the monumental task that had been undertaken to develop the draft Policy. And thanked licensing officers from all the Districts/Boroughs and County Council for their joint working.

Karl Battersby, Corporate Director for Business & Environmental Services confirmed the Policy was a live document that could be further revised post 1^st April.  He also noted the maximum length of WAVs that could be licensed under the current Harrogate Policy was in fact 5.2m and not 4.9m as stated by Mr Crozier. Finally he drew attention to an error in the EIA at page 376 of the report - the number of WAVs in Harrogate was actually 23, making the total number of WAVs across the county 89.

County Councillor David Chance suggested that to illustrate the County’s commitment to increasing the number of WAV’s, the application fees and renewal fees for WAV drivers should be waivered for a fixed period, up to the Policy being finalised, as an incentive to the trade.  He confirmed this could be accommodated within budget.  He also suggested any future/additional incentives could be identified through the development of the ISP.

Executive members agreed taxis played an essential role in rural areas where access to public transport was minimal.

County Councillor Carl Les thanked all those members of the public who had shared their views and contributed to the work on the draft Policy, and it was

Resolved – That:

i.     The provisions of Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (other than section 45) be adopted within the administrative area of North Yorkshire Council, with effect on the 1 April 2023, with the caveat of the decision only taking effect if the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy has been adopted for the 1 April 2023;

ii.     The proposed Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as shown in Appendix 1 of the report dated 7 February 2023 be adopted, with the amendment identified in paragraph 2.4;

iii.    The approval of minor and inconsequential amendments to the policy from time-to-time be delegated to a senior officer, to reflect legislative changes or correct any inaccuracies;

iv.   An Inclusive Service Plan be developed and implemented within 12 months.

v.    The LGR Licensing Members Working Group hold a further meeting in 3 months’ time to consider the draft public consultation arising from the development of an Inclusive Service Plan, and to provide an opportunity for all members to feed in proposals for any further revisions required to the new Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.

vi.   The license fees for any new applications and renewals for WAVs be waivered until such time as the Inclusive Service Plan is completed, and any subsequent changes to the Policy implemented.