Agenda item

Consideration was give to the report, which recommended the adoption of new guidance on determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the hackney and private hire trades in the County borough.

            Members were advised that the Institute of Licensing (IOL), in partnership with other organisations, have produced guidance on determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the hackney and private hire trades.  The document was subsequently endorsed by the Wales Licensing Expert Panel with the recommendation that all Welsh authorities replace their current guidelines/policy with this new guidance.  A number of authorities in Wales and England have since adopted the guidance with a view to providing a consistent approach to the determination of applications for hackney carriage and private hire trades.  A copy of the guidance was appended to the report, with Members asked to note that the new guidance is more stringent than the existing Caerphilly CBC criteria.  Examples of offence types and the existing criteria versus the proposed new criteria were set out at Section 5.6 of the report. 

            In addition to the national consultation undertaken on the IOL Guidance, a 4 week consultation exercise with all 480 existing licensees took place in Caerphilly county borough during April 2019.  9 responses were received in total, which were set out at Appendix 2 of the report, and either opposed the adoption of the new guidance or advocated the provision of ‘grandfather rights’ for existing drivers.  Several respondees also made reference to medical requirements, which is a separate requirement and not relevant to the adoption of this guidance.

            The report therefore advocated the adoption of the IOL guidance by Caerphilly Council, and that ‘grandfather rights’ be extended to existing licensed drivers in this regard.  As a consequence, existing matters will not be reassessed, but any new convictions, cautions or other matters connected to an existing licencee’s character will be considered against the proposed new guidance set out at Appendix 4 of the report.  The approach of providing grandfather rights is consistent with the approach taken by other Welsh authorities, including Powys and Pembrokeshire.  Any new applications across the hackney and private hire trades will be assessed against the new guidance.  It was noted that if Members were minded to adopt the new guidance, it would come into effect after the next Taxi and General Sub Committee on 11th October 2019.

The report noted that future changes to legislation and guidance may have an impact on this policy and the driver conditions, and therefore proposed that Officers review the policy regularly and amend as required for minor administrative purposes or to comply with changes in legislation or statutory guidance.  Any significant changes will be brought before the Taxi and General Committee for Members’ consideration.

During the course of debate on this item, reference was made to “grandfather rights” in respect of the higher standard of medical fitness test for taxi drivers (Group 2 medicals) adopted by the Council in May 2015.  Officers explained that this is a separate licensing matter and that the report under consideration focused on the suitability of applicants and licensees in respect of convictions, cautions and other matters.  The Member asked if a report could be brought to Committee to revisit medical requirements and it was confirmed that the request would be addressed at the end of the meeting. 

Having considered the report and taken into account the objections and comments received during the consultation process, it was moved and seconded that the recommendations as set out in the report be approved. By a show of hands this was unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED that :-

(i)         the IOL guidance (as appended to the report) on determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the hackney and private hire trades be adopted from 11th October 2019;

(ii)        in view of the above, the current Caerphilly County Borough Council driver policy be updated (as per Appendix 4 of the report) to reflect the amendments relating to drivers, private hire operators and vehicle proprietors, for use at future Taxi & General Sub Committee Hearings.