Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Byrne and Shelton.

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Councillor Thomas declared an Other Disclosable Interest in Minute No 9 as he used hackney carriage vehicles with wheelchair access.

Councillor Unsworth declared an Other Disclosable Interest in Minute No 10 as a relative was employed on designing ULEVs.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct the interests were not considered so significant that they it were likely to prejudice Councillor Thomas’ or Councillor Unsworth’s judgement of the public interest.  Neither Councillor was therefore required to withdraw from the meeting during consideration and discussion on the items involved.

To note the membership of the Committee for the municipal year 2017/18 as approved at the Council meeting on 11 May 2017.

Chair                          Councillor Thomas

Co Vice-Chair           Councillor Hunter

Co Vice-Chair           Councillor Singh Johal

Councillor Barton

Councillor Byrne

Councillor Cank

Councillor Fonseca

Councillor Shelton

Councillor Unsworth

Members noted the membership of the Committee for the municipal year 2017/18 as approved at the Council meeting on 11 May 2017.

Chair                          Councillor Thomas

Co Vice-Chair           Councillor Hunter

Co Vice-Chair           Councillor Singh Johal

Councillor Barton

Councillor Byrne

Councillor Cank

Councillor Fonseca

Councillor Shelton

Councillor Unsworth

To note the Terms of Reference of the Committee that were approved by the Annual Council Meeting on 11 May 2017.

Members noted the Terms of Reference of the Committee that were approved by the Annual Council Meeting on 11 May 2017.

To note that the dates for Committee meetings for the municipal year 2017/18 approved by the Annual Council meeting 11 May 2017 are:-

Tuesday 15 August 2017   - it is now proposed to cancel this meeting in view

of the meeting arranged for tonight.

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Tuesday 24 April 2018

The dates for Committee meetings for the municipal year 2017/18 approved by the Annual Council meeting on 11 May 2017 were noted as:-

Tuesday 15 August 2017   - This meeting had now been cancelled and brought forward to 13 July 2017.

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Tuesday 24 April 2018

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 October 2016 are attached and the Committee will be asked to confirm them as a correct record.

RESOLVED:

that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 October 2016 be approved as a correct record.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Monitoring Officer reported that no questions, representations and statements of case had been submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report seeking approval for the Ford Procab to be licensed as a hackney carriage.

The Committee is recommended to approve the Ford Procab, which is not fully compliant with the conditions of fitness, to be licensed as a hackney carriage provided that Members accept that the benefits of licensing outweigh the disadvantages outlined in paragraph 5 of the report.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report seeking approval for the Ford Procab to be licensed as a hackney carriage.

The Committee was recommended to approve the Ford Procab, which was not fully compliant with the conditions of fitness, to be licensed as a hackney carriage provided that they accepted that the benefits of licensing the vehicle outweighed the disadvantages outlined in paragraph 5 of the report.

The Licensing Team Manager presented the report and drew attention to the two areas where the vehicle was not compliant with the existing conditions of fitness.   These were :-

a)         The overall width of the vehicle is 1986mm, which exceeds the maximum width of 1845mm specified in Appendix 1.

b)         The top of the tread for any entrance is shown to be 0.56m, although Appendix 1 specifies a maximum of 0.53 metres above ground level when the vehicle is unladen.  However, the manufacturers comments that the vehicle is fitted with a side step with a height of 0.22m.

c)         The manufacturers had been asked to address these deviations from the conditions of fitness and their response would be reported verbally at the meeting.

The vehicle had been checked by Licensing Enforcement Officers on 13 July 2017 and it was reported that the details provided by Allied Vehicles on the vehicle compliance form were correct.  The Enforcement Officers had made two observations that the location of the wheelchair anchorage was different to other vehicles and that the intermediate step which automatically extended from underneath the vehicle when the side door opened would stop automatically if it hit an obstruction.  The step could be manual overridden by the driver if necessary. 

In addition a certificate of European Whole Vehicle type approval had been provided for the vehicle. 

The Chair then invited Simon Guilliatt and Lucy Bradley from Allied Vehicles to outline the reasons for the company’s application.  It was stated that:-

·         The company were asking all councils to approve the vehicle for use as a hackney carriage.

·         The vehicle offered 6, 7 or 8 seat variations for a standard price of £34,000 for the manual transmission.  An automatic transmission option was available for an additional £1,500

·         The vehicle had a full EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval certificate.

·         A number of Councils had already approved the vehicle for use as a hackney carriage.

·         The vehicle met the Euro 6 emissions standards    

At 17.46 pm the Chair adjourned the meeting to enable Members to inspect the vehicle, which was parked outside of the City Hall.

Members inspected the vehicle and experienced entering and leaving the vehicle and seating arrangements.   Members also observed the operation of the automatic step and wheelchair ramp and observed the wheelchair loading procedure and anchorage points.  

At 18.07 pm the meeting was reconvened with all Members present who were present when the meeting was adjourned. 

Following the inspection of the vehicle, Members asked questions of the representatives of Allied Vehicles and the following responses were received:-

·         Although  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report seeking the Committee’s views on a temporary relaxation of the Taxi Age Policy for hackney carriages, prior to a decision being made by the City Mayor.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report that sought the Committee’s views on a temporary relaxation of the Taxi Age Policy for hackney carriages, prior to a decision being made by the City Mayor.

The current policy on vehicle age provided that no vehicle would be licensed once it was over 11 years old.  The current policy was approved by the City Mayor on 12 June 2012 and it permitted no exceptions to the policy.

The Leicester’s Air Quality Action Plan (2016-2026) Healthier Air for Leicester set out a number of measures to accelerate improvements in air quality and deliver public health benefits.  One such measure was to introduce a low emission zone focused initially on buses using the bus stations and to work towards and ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) for all vehicles by 2026 or sooner.  A further measure was to work with bus, freight, rail and taxi transport sectors to reduce their environmental impact.

Although there were no ULEV Hackney Carriages available for purchase and delivery, media releases from the manufacturers and other bodies such as  Transport for London had indicated that vehicles would “start to be available” mid/late 2017.

A number of operators had asked to be allowed to use vehicles older than was permitted by the Age Policy to bridge the gap before they were able to acquire Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs).  Operators felt this would provide an opportunity to advance the Air Quality Plan by supporting owners of hackney carriages who want to replace their existing old hackney carriage with a new ULEV hackney carriage.

The report profiled the age of the current Hackney Carriage and Private Hire fleets operating in the City and identified those that would be reaching their end of life in the next 18 months.

The report set out three options for members to consider.  These were:-

            Option A – Proof of Purchase

            A temporary relaxation of the vehicle age policy granted solely to an owner of a licensed hackney carriage vehicle who had a bona-fide arrangement in place to replace their vehicle with a ULEV on or before 30 September 2018.  On the 30 September 2018 the 11 year rule would be apply and the existing vehicle would be removed from service.  6 monthly vehicle tests would continue to apply during the temporary relaxation period.

Option B – Commitment Only Option

            A temporary relaxation of the vehicle age policy granted solely to an owner of a licensed hackney carriage vehicle who had made a commitment to replacing their vehicle with a ULEV on or before 30 September 2018. On the 30 September 2018 the 11 year rule would be apply and the existing vehicle would be removed from service.  6 monthly vehicle tests would continue to apply during the temporary relaxation period.

Option C – Temporary General Moratorium

A temporary relaxation of the vehicle age policy for any vehicle having a last licensable date after the date of the decision to authorise  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The Chair declared the meeting closed at 7.44 pm.