Agenda item

Report of the Head of Environmental Services

This report asks the Committee to endorse the CTS report into taxi demand services

The Committee received a report of the Head of Environmental Services asking the Committee to endorse the report written by CTS into taxi demand services. The report considered whether there was significant unmet demand for taxi services in the Borough.

The Licensing Manager introduced the report and gave a presentation to the Committee including the background to the policy review. Joe Maclaren, Project Director at CTS, also made a presentation to the Committee. Mr Maclaren outlined the results of the survey and consultation responses.

The Licensing Manager advised that officers had received a letter of response from the Watford Hackney Carriage Drivers Association (WHCDA). Copies were circulated to the Committee and the Licensing Manager read out the letter. He noted that there was support for the option of a limit and an action plan from the WHCDA.

The Licensing Manager reported that if the Committee decided to introduce a limit that day it would be 304 Hackney Carriages as there were 301 licences and three applications pending. He advised that during the consultation a fixed limit was consulted on but not a limit which reduced when licences were surrendered or revoked. Only a very small number of licences were revoked or surrendered each year. It was proposed that a notification list be set up so that when a licence became available the first person on the list would be notified and invited to submit an application.

The Chair reminded the Committee that the action plan would be dealt with under the next item and invited questions.

A Councillor expressed his appreciation for the thorough report that CTS had provided.  He said that it showed that supply and demand for Hackney Carriages were out of balance. He noted that the statistics showed that there were 299 Hackney Carriages and the Licensing Manager had reported that there were 301 licences and three pending. The Licensing Manager responded that applications were received daily and the database had been unavailable when the report was printed.

In response to a question from the Councillor about the purpose of the notification list, the Licensing Manager said that this prevented people asking the Council regularly whether a vacancy had arisen and relieved the Council of the need to respond regularly.

The Councillor suggested an amendment to recommendation 2.3 to add clarity; he proposed that “in accordance with sections 3.29 and 3.30 of the officer’s report” be added to the end of the sentence.

The Councillor said that a fixed limit rather than a reducing limit undermined the purpose of the report. The Licensing Manager said that the consultation did not address the question of a reducing limit and without further consultation a limit which reduced as licences were revoked or surrendered could not be implemented.

A Member agreed and said that without a reducing limit the Council would be setting in stone an unsatisfactory situation. There was a third more Hackney Carriages than was necessary. He believed there should be a process which reduced the number of plates available. He asked whether work had been done to establish the ideal number of plates.

A further Member agreed and said that he had been aware of the excess numbers of taxis for some time. He asked how much the consultants from CTS had cost. He agreed that retaining a limit at 304 would not have an effect on the oversupply. He asked what the figures were before and after delimitation and how many plates had been surrendered. He underlined some of the difficulties faced by drivers in recent years.

The Licensing Manager responded that the report did not address what the ideal number of plates in Watford would be but the ratio to the population was an indicator. He said that an online survey and press release could be used for a further consultation on a reducing limit. This might be possible before the next Licensing Committee in June 2012. He added that he did not have the figures for the number of licences surrendered and noted that they were handed back for a variety of reasons. He advised that there had been 76 Hackney Carriages before delimitation. The cost of the survey had been £12,500.  The Licensing Manager said that the situation would not get worse but further consultation was needed to have a reducing limit. It was unlikely that a significant number of licences would be handed back in three years.

A Councillor asked Mr Maclaren how other councils had dealt with this problem. Mr Maclaren responded that CTS had not seen a situation as severe as in Watford. Other councils had reintroduced a limit after delimitation but few licences were surrendered and the action plan was designed to encourage drivers to move on.

A Member responded that he did not want to reduce numbers by making the rules stricter. The Chair noted that the report showed that the standard of service had reduced and the trade were also keen to improve standards.

The Legal and Democratic Section Head informed the Committee that the Council could not take away licences without criteria. Without further consultation on a reducing limit the Council could be open to challenge.

A Member felt that delimitation had been a success overall; before delimitation there had been significant unmet demand although this had been over-corrected. He referred to the problems where plates had been sold for a significant sum of money. He estimated that under the current rate it would take 20 years for the number of plates to reduce to about 225.  Another Member disagreed that it had been a success; the number of Hackney Carriages had increased from 76 to 304 without the infrastructure to support it.

In response to questions about selling licences, the Licensing Manager informed the Committee that the Council could not interfere with a transfer of a licence and must register it.

A non-Committee Member noted that there seemed to be a consensus that a reducing limit should be implemented. He asked why the charge for future unmet demand surveys could not be absorbed by the current fees.

The Licensing Manager said that the costs of the survey had not been funded from the Licensing budget and the resources would not be available to cover future surveys. The current annual vehicle licence fee was £284.

The Chair moved that the amendment suggested earlier in the meeting.

It was moved that the following be added to the end of recommendation 2.3:

“in accordance with sections 3.29 and 3.30 of the officers’ report.”

On being put to the Committee this was AGREED.

The Chair moved the following recommendation:

“that officers consult on the implementation of a reducing limit of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences and report back to the Licensing Committee.”

On being put to the Committee this was AGREED.

RESOLVED –

1. That the CTS report into taxi demand services be endorsed.

2. (i) that a limit on the number of hackney carriage vehicle licences the Council will issue be immediately re-applied equivalent to the number of licences in force on 19 March 2012 (304)

(ii) that an Action Plan to improve the quality of the taxi trade service provision be implemented

(iii) that the policy be re-assessed starting spring 2015 unless legislative changes make that unnecessary, and
(iv) that the Committee recommends to Cabinet that it imposes an additional fee of not less than £16.67 per hackney carriage vehicle licence per financial year for the next three years, such income to be paid as contribution towards the costs of future unmet demand surveys

3. That the Head of Environmental Services in consultation with the Chair of the Licensing Committee considers any applications for a new hackney carriage vehicle licence that appears to officers on its merits to be an exception to the policy of not granting any new licences in accordance with sections 3.29 and 3.30 of the officers’ report.

4. That officers consult on the implementation of a reducing limit of Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licences and report back to the Licensing Committee.