Agenda and draft minutes

At this point Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Members were invited to declare, at this point in the meeting, any personal or prejudicial interests they might have in the business on the agenda.  No declarations were made.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2010.

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2010 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the committee’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Tuesday 18 January 2011.

It was reported that there were no registrations to speak under the council’s Public Participation Scheme.

This report presents information gathered in support of this review, including feedback on the consultation process recently carried out.

Members received a report that presented information gathered in support of the review, including feedback on the consultation process that had recently been carried out.

The following additional information was tabled:

• Briefing note on the Duncombe Place taxi rank
• Data on estimated emissions from taxis in York
• Feedback from consultation exercise
• Summary of consultation findings

(i)         Impact on Air Quality

Consideration was given to the data provided on emissions from taxis in York.  It was noted that the data provided an overview of the age and fuel type of the current taxi fleet and that estimates had been made of the total emissions from the whole fleet, assuming each vehicle travelled a set distance.

Members noted that it would be possible to undertake a detailed study of taxi emissions in York, as detailed in paragraphs 22-26 of the report, and noted the financial costs that this would involve.

It was suggested that that there was a need to carry out more work in respect of air quality in general and that consideration should be given to longer-term ambitions as well as interim targets.

Members noted the comments that had been made by the District Judge following a statutory appeal against the council’s conditions for Hackney Carriage Vehicles in respect of emissions.  During the case the District Judge had indicated that a vehicle age policy in itself was inappropriate and that any policy should be emissions based.

Consideration was given to the information that had been provided on the Air Quality Strategy that had been introduced in London, as detailed in paragraphs 15 to 20 of the report.  Members agreed that a recommendation should be made that the taxi related measures for improving air quality within the GLA Scheme should be implemented in York. It was suggested that a target implementation date of 2021 would enable time to investigate funding streams available to support the policy, including EU funding.

Discussion took place as to the necessary support systems that would need to be put in place.  It was recognised that there needed to be a commitment by the council to developing a network of charging points to encourage the use of electric taxis.  This aim should be incorporated into the Local Transport Plan.

It was noted that it was intended to include proposals regarding the taxi trade within LTP3 and Members requested that they received more information on this issue.

Officers gave details of the database that was currently in place to record information on taxi vehicles.  It was noted that a new IT system was to be introduced that would enable data on emissions to be recorded.

Suggested recommendations:

That, in order to reduce the emissions from taxis in the short to medium term, the following European standard should be required for replacement vehicles:

·        For petrol cars – Euro 4 petrol vehicle class

·        For diesel cars – Euro 5 diesel vehicle class.

That, in the case of new plates, Members acknowledged the need to increase the number of low emission  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.