Agenda item

The Director of Environmental and Enforcement Services to submit a report seeking approval for the Ford Voyager Tourneo Custom to be licensed as a hackney carriage.

The Committee is recommended to approve the Ford Voyager Tourneo Custom, 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 vehicle will be available for Members to inspect prior to considering the report and making a decision.  

The Director of Environmental and Enforcement Services submitted a report seeking approval for the Ford Voyager Tourneo Custom to be licensed as a hackney carriage.  The manufacturers, Voyager MPV Ltd, had submitted the application for the vehicle to be licensed. 

The Committee were recommended to approve the Ford Voyager Tourneo Custom provided that Members accepted that the benefits of licensing outweighed the disadvantages outlined in paragraph 5 of the report.  Although the vehicle was not fully compliant with the conditions of fitness, it could be licensed as a hackney carriage at Members’ discretion.

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)         that the overall width of vehicle was 141mm wider than the maximum width in the conditions of fitness of 1.845 metres.

b)         that the clear height of the doorway was stated as 65mm less than the minimum height of 1.195 metres in the conditions of fitness. 

The Chair then invited Mr N Stuart, Voyager MPV Ltd, to outline the reasons for the company’s application.  He stated that:-

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

·         The company were responding to requests from hackney carriage operators and drivers that they wanted a vehicle that could be serviced locally and supported by a national supplier.

·         The vehicle incorporated a number of environmentally friendly features, including automatic stop/start technology when stationary at traffic lights/junctions etc.  The vehicle was considered to be the ‘greenest’ vehicle currently available for use as a hackney carriage.

·         The vehicle offered increased levels of driver comfort.

·         The vehicle had a 5 star European NCAP rating.

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

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

The Licensing Team Manager confirmed that the Council had seen the EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval certificate.  Attention was also drawn to Appendix 2 of the report which showed the equipment specification of the two vehicle models.

Following questions from Members it was noted that:-

·         The conditions of fitness had originally been based upon those for London Hackney Carriage Vehicles.

·         Some of the original conditions had subsequently been reviewed and certain requirements had been relaxed in 2005 to form the current conditions.

·         The variations of the vehicle’s width and clear height of the doorway from the current requirements may make the vehicle less able to manoeuvre in narrow streets and some wheelchair users or people who had difficulty in bending may find it difficult to enter the vehicle.

In addition, Mr Stuart gave details of some Councils that had already approved the vehicle.  No authorities had refused the application, but two authorities had deferred consideration of the application as the company had not been able to present a vehicle for inspection at the time the applications were considered.  These were in the process of being reconsidered now that the vehicle was available. This was similar to the situation whereby the Committee had deferred consideration of the application at its last meeting.

At 5.45 pm the Chair adjourned the meeting to enable Members to inspect the vehicle, which was parked outside of the Town Hall.

Members inspected the vehicle and experienced entering and leaving the vehicle and seating arrangements.

At 5.55 pm the meeting was reconvened with all Members present who were present when the meeting was adjourned.  Councillor Barton also joined the meeting at this time and indicated that she would not take part in the subsequent discussion or decision on the application.

Following the inspection of the vehicle, Members asked questions of Mr Stuart and the following responses were received:-

·         The vehicle had high visibility stripes incorporated into the seating material and high visibility handles to assist passengers with disabilities.

·         The ramp for wheelchair access to the vehicle was an integral part of the design of the vehicle and this had been incorporated to save storage space.

·         There was a four point wheelchair securing system with a 3 point wheelchair passenger belt.  When secured in place the wheelchair was forward facing.

·         Additional lighting had been installed in the vehicle to illuminate the steps for access and egress to the vehicle.

·         The vehicle had a large bulkhead and screen to give the driver high levels of protection.

·         There was a door locking system operated by the driver.

·         An intercom system allowed the driver and passengers to converse and both the driver and the passengers could turn the intercom off. 

The solicitor to the Committee provided legal advice on the application.  Members were informed that they could depart from the current requirements provided they felt that the benefits of licensing the vehicle outweighed the disadvantages outlined in paragraph 5 of the report, and that they gave justifiable reasons for doing so.   

Members discussed the merits of application and

RESOLVED:

That the application for the Ford Voyager Tourneo Custom to be approved for licensing as a hackney carriage vehicle be approved.

The reasons for the Members making their decision were that the two variations of the vehicle’s specification were considered to be minimal differences.  The vehicle meets the needs of passengers and drivers and had some extra features which are beneficial.  It was felt that there should be a range of vehicles operating in the City as hackney carriages to cater for the differing needs of both drivers and passengers.