Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report to inform the Committee of new statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards issued by central government. Members are recommended to note the information and take account of the content when determining taxi matters.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report to inform the Committee of new statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards issued by central government. Members were recommended to note the information and take account of the content when determining taxi matters.

The Chief Licensing Officer presented the report, and highlighted the following points:

·         Licensing legislation around taxis and private hire vehicles had been in place for a long time, was quite dated and not suitable for current needs.

·         The Government received a couple of reports (Law Commission 2010 and Task and Finish Group 2018). Both groups asked for a change in legislation and an update in practice and guidance, but legislative change was no longer on the government’s timetable.

·         The Institute of Licensing issued guidance in 2018 with the aim of ensuring consistency across the country.

·         The Department for Transport published statutory taxi and private hire vehicle standards on 21 July 2020 which took effect immediately (attached at Appendix A to the report).

·         The standards are not in law but the introduction stated “the Department expected the recommendations to be implemented unless there is a compelling local reason not to.”

·         The new standards took precedence. If the standards were not adhered to, there needed to be a good case why not, and could damage an authority’s reputation in court. It was considered good practice for the Council to publish consideration of the standards, and with the pending taxi strategy being developed it was an ideal opportunity to link standards with new policies.

·         It was recommended that an overarching policy be produced to bring everything together under which the policies for driver, vehicles and operators would sit. It was further recommended there be consultation with stakeholders, with the policy to be formally reviewed every five years.

·         If there was a change of policy for drivers, it was suggested that the licences of existing drivers who would fall foul of the new policy should be reviewed, and drivers be given the opportunity to meet new standards.

·         Standards advocated interim checks, for example, six-monthly DBS checks. The intention under the taxi strategy was to ask drivers to sign up to the DBS update service at no additional cost to the driver. This would enable checks to be carried out at appropriate intervals.

·         The authority should make use of other methods for obtaining and sharing knowledge, for example, knowledge sharing with police and other authorities.

·         There was a training programme for decision makers in LCC but this could be improved to include items suggested in the new taxi standards that were not covered currently.

·         Current arrangements for decision making still accord with processes in the new standards, with some items taken to sub-committees for Member decisions.

·         Standards omit reference to multiple convictions or motoring offences.

·         To assess written English would require boosting existing requirements. If an existing driver struggled to understand policy and guidance and written communication, the Council would have to take a view on their suitability to remain licensed and give the driver a period of time to bring their written English up to the standard required.

·         The use of CCTV in licensed vehicles is encouraged in the new standards but GDPR requirements need to be considered.

·         Operator proposals match those in the Council’s proposed Taxi Strategy.

·         Other recommendations included joint authorisation of enforcement officers with neighbouring / relevant authorities, for example, Oadby and Wigston BC could deal with Leicester City Council drivers, and vice versa.

·         New standards applied immediately, but there were a few that went beyond the Council’s current proposals that needed to be included before agreeing policy.

In response the Members’ questions and observations the following responses were made:

·         The principles of natural justice are in common law and fairly well defined in terms of procedural fairness or treatment to be fair. A person had the right to be heard with or without representation, with adequate opportunity to present their case to an unbiased Committee. The Council had policies in place to guide Members in the decision-making process. It was also requested that examples of natural justice be included in training for Members.

Councillor Thomas joined the meeting at this point.

Councillor Singh Johal joined the meeting at this point.

·         It was important that an English test be incorporated. Previously focus had been on spoken English with the need for drivers to communicate with customers, regulatory officers, police and so on, but a written English test would go a step further and stated drivers must be able to read policy documents, understand communications and so on. If the authority introduced a standard greater than a standard previously applied, the question was asked if the authority should go back to those who had been issued a licence previously and that the new standards applied to them also. It was agreed this should be the case.

·         CCTV favourable but not mandatory at this point in time. The standards stated it was a good idea for drivers to have CCTV and were encouraging licensing authorities to introduce it as a standard to deter crime and make people feel safe and was good for drivers as well as passengers.

·         Members agreed there should be some level of English assessment. Who would set the test and at what level, and whether existing licensed drivers needed to undertake written assessments needed to be decided. English Level Entry 3 was the standard set some years ago and used for citizenship in the UK, though the standards did not give any indication of what the level should be. It was noted that spoken English assessments were undertaken by Leicester College, and it was suggested that perhaps Leicester College could help with the written standard and signpost those drivers not at the required standard to relevant training. It was anticipated that assessing existing drivers would be a huge job. Standards had come into effect immediately and the mechanics of assessing the drivers needed to be planned. It was further noted that the authority had not been able to process new driver applications without medical checks as GPs were not providing the service currently due to Covid-19, and not able to provide the knowledge tests which was hands on using laminated maps, so this was also something that needed to be considered.

The Chair thanked the officer for the report and noted the recommendations it the report.

RESOLVED:

1.    That information contained in the report be noted.

2.    That Members take account of the content when determining taxi matters.