Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report to inform the Committee of issues associated with cross-border hiring and seek support for proposals put forward by Transport for London regarding legislative change to address the problems.

The Committee is recommended to consider the proposals in the report, and request that the City Mayor and Executive communicate Leicester City Council’s support for the proposals made by Transport for London for legislative changes to address the problems associated with cross-border hiring.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report to inform the Committee of issues associated with cross border hiring and sought support for proposals put forward by Transport for London (TFL) regarding legislative change to address the problems.

The Committee was recommended to consider the proposals in the report, and request that the City Mayor and Executive communicate Leicester City Council’s support for the proposals made by TFL for legislative changes to address the problems associate with cross border hiring.

The Chief Licensing Officer presented the report. Members were informed the issue of cross border hiring was a significant issue across the country, causing concern to licensing authorities, traders and passengers. It also affected the ability of authorities to undertake enforcement action, was a concern with regards to public safety, and undermined local standards and complaints.

A letter dated 6 March 2018, signed by almost 100 drivers licensed by Leicester City Council was received by the City Mayor, and raised concern with ‘out of town’ drivers and vehicles. The Chief Licensing Officer intends to meet with representatives for the drivers to talk over the issues they face, and include comments in the response to TFL.

It was reported that TFL had undertaken a lot of work around the cross border issue, and had put forward a package of proposals for legislative changes in response:

·         New primary legislation:

o   Introduce a start or finish requirement – all taxi and private hire journeys must either start or end in the area in which the driver and vehicle (and operator in respect of private hire) are licensed;

o   Statutory guidance from the Department of Transport to introduce national minimum standards, that are high enough to provide a guarantee of customer safety and accessibility; and

o   To introduce national enforcement powers, to enable licensing authority enforcement officers to enforce the national minimum standards in their areas regardless of where the operator, driver and vehicle are licensed, supported by a provision for data sharing.

Members noted that it was important that all three proposals were progressed, as one or two in isolation would not work. An example given for start or finish was, an operator in Leicester would not be able to accept a job from Nottingham to Birmingham. It highlighted that if a Leicester operator could not do the above, someone in Nottingham or Birmingham could, but the same would be true in reverse and it localised work.

A concern on the proposals expressed was the increased burden on some businesses. It was not anticipated the proposals would make a significant difference. The proposals included the need for operators, drivers and vehicle owners be licensed in each area they wished to work. This removed the unfairness of an authority receiving income and drivers going to work elsewhere.

As stated in the report, the Mayor for London had requested other reforms to address issues faced in London and elsewhere in England.

When considering the recommendations outlined in the report, Members were also asked to consider the involvement of local MPs.

The Chair thanked officers on a particularly good piece of work. He believed the report set out problems the authority faced, and a clear way on how to address them.

Members raised concern about identifying rogue drivers licensed in another area without insurance, and were informed officers had no powers to demand any information from them. The voluntary database proposed by the Local Government Association would allow enhanced enforcement and information sharing.

The Chair stated the report illustrated the work the authority had gone to in getting the taxi and private hire fleets in the city to comply with tests, and did not want standards eroding by people coming from out of town.

RESOLVED:

that, following consideration of the proposals in the report:

1.    A request be made that the City Mayor and Executive communicate Leicester City Council’s support for the proposals made by Transport for London for legislative changes to address the problems associated with cross border hiring;

2.    Local MPs be contacted about the decision reached by the Licensing and Public Safety Committee, and ask them to lend their support when the matter was taken before Parliament – a common letter be sent to them so all points were covered, and stress that as representatives in the Wards, they were in support of the proposals covered by the report;

3.    All three proposed legislative changes be considered together and not in isolation.