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Licensing and Regulatory Committee
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26 April 2021 |
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Report of the Director – Environment, Transport and Planning |
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Hackney Carriage Fares
Summary
1. This report asks Members to determine a request from the Hackney Carriage Associations with regards to the maximum fares to be paid in respect of the hire of a City of York licensed hackney carriage vehicles. This request relates to a variation of the table of fares.
2. Members are asked to determine the request for the variation of the table of fares from City of York’s Hackney Carriage Associations.
Reason: To determine the table of fares that will apply to charges in respect of the hire of City of York’s licensed hackney carriage vehicles.
Background
3. Section 65 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (1976 Act) allows the Council to fix the rates of fares within its area, and all other charges in connection with the hire of a vehicle or with the arrangements for the hire of a vehicle, by means of a “table of fares”. The Council can only fix the rates of fares in relation to hackney carriage vehicles.
4. There is also provision within the 1976 Act that the Council may vary the table of fares.
5. The current table of fares, more commonly known as the fare chart, was fixed by the Council in June 2018, following a request from the Hackney Carriage Associations to vary the fares in February 2018. The table of fares can be found at Annex 1.
6. The City of York’s table of fares covers five tariffs, which include distance and waiting time:
· Standards charges
o Tariff 1 – day time 7am – 10pm
o Tariff 2 – nigh time 10pm – 7am
o Tariff 3 – race days (to and from the racecourse only)
· Premium rates – Christmas and New Year
o Tariff 4 – day time 7am – 10pm
o Tariff 5 – night time 10pm – 7am
It also covers extras, which includes additional charges for:
· Bank Holidays
· 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th passenger
· Cats and dogs (excluding assistant dogs)
· Each item of luggage carried in the boot
· Fouling of the vehicle interior
7. The Council determines whether to vary the table of fares upon receipt of a request from the Hackney Carriage Associations (Associations). There are currently four Associations representing City of York hackney carriage trade, it is a requirement of the Council that all four Associations must agree to make the request.
8. At the beginning of the calendar year, when the relevant RPI Transport Indices figures are published by the Office for National Statistics, the Council provides the Associations with the results of hackney carriage fare inflation calculations. This calculation take into account the:
a) Inflation figures
b) Fuel annual percentage inflation figures
c) Vehicle maintenance annual percentage inflation figures
d) Vehicle insurance annual percentage inflation figures
Upon receipt of this information the Associations determine if they are going to submit a request to the Council to vary the table of fares, providing details of how they would like the variations to be applied.
9. The results of the inflation calculations over the last four years have shown the following percentage increases:
December 2016 – December 2017 - 3.79%
December 2017 – December 2018 - 3.35%
December 2018 – December 2019 - 2.91%
December 2019 – December 2020 - 0.99%
10. As stated above the current table of fares was fixed by the Council in 2018. The Association did not submit a request to the Council to vary the fares in 2019. The Association did submit a request to the Council to vary the fares in February 2020, the request was for a 4% increase. Due to Covid 19 further information was not provided by the Associations with regards to how they would like the variations to be applied.
11. On the 5 February 2021 the Associations submitted a request to the Council to vary the fares, the request is for a 4% increase. A proposed table of fares was submitted with the request detailing how they would like the variation to be applied. The request and proposed table of fares can found at Annex 2.
Consultation
12. The Associations have consulted their members prior to submitting the request to vary the table of fares.
13. It is a legal requirement of the 1976 Act that when the Council makes or varies a table of fares, that they publish in at least one local newspaper circulating in the district a notice setting out the table of fares, or the variations. The notice must give a specified period, of not less than 14 days, within which objections can be made.
14. If no objections to the table of fares or the variation are received the table of fares or the variations shall come into operations on the date of the expiration of the period specified in the notice.
15. If objections are received, and not withdrawn, the Council shall set a further date, no later than two months after the first specified date, on which the table of fares shall come into force with or without modifications as decided by the Council after consideration of the objections.
Options
16. Option 1 – ask officers to publish in a local newspaper the variation to the table of fares proposed by the Hackney Carriage Associations, giving a specified period of 14 days within which objections can be made.
17. Option 2 – determine an alternative variation to the table of fares, and ask officer to publish in a local newspaper the variation to the table of fares determined by Members, giving a specified period of 14 days within which objections can be made.
18. Option 3 - reject the request from the Hackney Carriage Associations to vary the table of fares.
Analysis
19. The comparisons in the current and proposed table of fares are detailed in the table below (distance is shown in metres):
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Current Table of Fares |
Proposed Table of Fares |
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Standard Charges |
Additional |
Standard Charges |
Additional |
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Tariff 1 £2.90 145 metres 40 seconds |
10p 80 metres 22 seconds |
Tariff 1 £3.00 157.8 yards 144.29 metres 39.8 seconds |
20p 168.2 yards 153.8 metres 42.4 seconds
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Tariff 2 £3.70 70 metres 19 seconds |
As above |
Tariff 2 £3.90 77.6 yards 70.96 metres 19.3 seconds |
As above |
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Tariff 3 £5.80 980 metres 4 mins 29 seconds |
As above |
Tariff 3 £6.00 1066 yards 974.75 metres 4 mins 27.6 seconds |
As above |
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Premium Rates |
Additional |
Premium Rates |
Additional |
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Tariff 4 £4.35 145 metres 40 seconds |
15p 80 metres 22 seconds |
Tariff 4 £4.50 157.8 yards 144.29 metres 39.8 seconds |
30p 168.2 yards 153.8 metres 42.4 seconds |
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Tariff 5 £5.55 70 metres 19 seconds |
As above |
Tariff 5 £5.85 77.6 yards 70.96 metres 19.3 seconds |
As above |
20. On the current table of fares the ‘Extras’ included a charge of 60p each for the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th passenger. The proposed table to fares is requesting that this ‘Extra’ is removed, and that the Premium Rates apply when ‘more than 4 passengers’ are carried within the vehicle.
21. Fare comparisons of journeys with regards to distance travelled can be found at Annex 3.
22. The taxi licensing functions undertaken by the Council are statutory, supporting the new and existing trade, as well as local residents and visitors. Through these functions, the policy supports the Council’s Plan of a good quality of life for everyone.
Implications
23. The direct implications arising from this report are:
(a) Financial – There are no financial implications.
(b) Human Resources (HR) - There are no HR implications.
(c) Equalities – There are no equalities implications.
(d) Legal – There are no legal implications.
(e) Crime and Disorder – There are no crime and disorder implications.
(f) Information Technology (IT) - There are no IT implications.
(g) Property - There are no property implications.
(h) Other - There are no other implications.
Risk Management
24. There are no known risks associated with this report.
Contact Details
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Author: |
Chief Officer Responsible for the report: |
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Lesley Cooke Licensing Manager 01904 551515
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James Gilchrist Director Environment, Transport and Planning
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Report Approved |
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Date |
13/04/21 |
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Specialist Implications Officer(s)
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Wards Affected: |
All |
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For further information please contact the author of the report |
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Annexes
Annex 1 – Current Table of Fares
Annex 2 – Proposed Table of Fares
Annex 3 – Fare Comparisons of Journeys