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 19 January 2011.

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 January 2011 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 15 February 2011.

There was one registration to speak under the council’s Public Participation Scheme. 

A representative from York Hackney Carriage Drivers Association stated that the association welcomed the report and congratulated those involved.  The association was particularly pleased that the report recognised the problems associated with deregulation, the rolling introduction of improving vehicle standards, and the extended hours trial at Duncombe Place.  The association did, however, wish to raise the following issues:

• Why conduct a Halcrow un-met demand survey if the policy is to issue two new licenses every six months irrespective of need?  The council’s decision to issue the extra two licenses every six months should be brought to a close as the Association believed that any survey would show that there was no unmet demand.
• The results of any such survey should be open to view by anyone requesting this information.
• Immediate introduction of Euro 5 for diesel cars would effectively mean that replacement diesels must have been registered after 2009, i.e. less than two years old.  Whilst supporting the principle of cleaning up emissions, the Association would request a delay of 2 years before full implementation.
• Why allow a hybrid car to be licensed ahead of a wheelchair accessible vehicle?
• The cost of achieving higher standards must be reflected in the tariffs paid by the passenger.

This report presents information gathered in support of this review and the resulting draft recommendations for the Task Group’s consideration.

Consideration was given to the Taxi Licensing Policy Review – Draft Final Report.  The report presented information that had been gathered in support of the review and the resulting draft recommendations.

Consideration was given to the revisions which had been incorporated into the draft Final Report and which had been circulated to Members.  These were agreed. 

Members considered whether there were any omissions in the report.  It was agreed that more detail should be provided in respect to the need to ensure that the council put the necessary infrastructure in place to support the move to electric vehicles.  Particular reference should be drawn to the need to prioritise the introduction of the charging points detailed in LTP3, as shown within Annex D.

Members went through the draft recommendations.  Amendments were agreed to the wording of some of the recommendations in order to ensure greater clarity. 

It was agreed that the recommendations would be circulated to Members by email for final approval, prior to the report being considered by the Community Safety Overview & Scrutiny Committee.

The Chair agreed to write an introduction to the report outlining the Task Group’s vision for the review.

RESOLVED:(i)         That, subject to final approval by email, the wording of the

                                    final report and the draft recommendations be agreed.

(ii)That the Chair draft an introduction to the final report outlining the Task Group’s vision.

REASON:      To conclude this review and enable the presentation of this final report to the Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee.