The committee received the report of the Business Compliance Officer providing information on options available to align current policy and procedure with the requirements of the new statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards. 

The Business Compliance Officer introduced the report explaining that the standards had been introduced by the Department of Transport on 21 July 2020 and these had been examined to see how the council met the requirements.  The standards covered a wide range of issues including driver, vehicle and operator standards.

The Business Compliance Officer read paragraphs 4.5 and 4.6 of the report to members and outlined the review conducted in respect of a range of current policies and procedures carried out in accordance with the committee’s decision made on 19 October 2020.  He went on to discuss paragraph 5.2 of the report and how matters in relation to the suspension and revocation of driver licences would be considered when the council’s Environmental Health Policy was reviewed later in the year. 

The Business Compliance Officer continued by reading paragraph 7.2 of the report to the committee.  He advised members that whilst the revised policy was of some length due to the amalgamation of standards, the council would seek to create shorter reference documents in an easy read format for ease of reference.

RESOLVED –

1.      that the committee approve the draft Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2021-2026 as found at Appendix 2 for public consultation commencing 18 January 2021.

2.      that the committee note the relevant sections of the Standards contained in section 10 of this report. These sections of the Standards do not form part of the proposed policy but will be brought before the relevant committee for consideration in due course.

3.      that the committee note the contents of section 12 which are taken from the

Department for Transport Standards and relate to the Environmental Health

Compliance Policy that is due for review in 2021 and not for consideration at this stage.