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Venue: Council Chamber, Penallta House, Tredomen, Ystrad Mynach. View directions
Contact: Rebecca Barrett
No. | Item |
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APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Minutes: Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors P.J. Bevan and D. Cushing. |
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DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST Minutes: Prior to the meeting, Councillor D.
Cushing declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the report, having a family
friend who was representing the taxi trade at the meeting, and therefore was
not in attendance. There were no other
declarations of interest received at the commencement or during the course of
the meeting. |
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PROPOSAL TO INCREASE HACKNEY CARRIAGE FARE TARIFFS PDF 3 MB Minutes: The Licensing Manager presented the report, which set out proposals for an increase in the hackney carriage fare tariff, ahead of their presentation to Cabinet to seek approval. The Taxi and General
Committee were advised of requests received from the Caerphilly County
Borough Taxi Drivers Association (CCBTDA) and two Hackney Carriage Vehicle
Proprietors for the current hackney carriage fare tariff to be increased. As the current tariff has been in place since
2010, this should be reviewed in line with the current economic climate. The report therefore outlined the details of
the requests and how the increase could be achieved. Members
were referred to the information contained in the report and its appendices,
including the current tariff, the Council’s position within the National Fare
Table, a comparison of the two mile tariff across Wales, a comparison of each proposal as suggested by the trade and
Licensing Authority demonstrating the prospective fares based on 1 to 5 mile
journeys, details of the proposals made by the trade, a draft new tariff
based on the most popular proposal, and the Council’s Equality Impact
Assessment. Members were also given the
opportunity to view a letter from the Licensing Department to the trade in
respect of the proposals (which was referred to in the report in respect of
Appendix D but omitted from the agenda pack). Officers
outlined the consultation undertaken in respect of the proposals and the
resultant responses and level of support for each proposal, as set out in
Section 4.6 of the report. Proposal 1
consisted of identical suggestions made by the taxi association and one
proprietor, whilst Proposals 2 and 3 were submitted by another licensee. It
was noted that the Licensing Department had suggested its own proposal
(Proposal 4) as part of the tariff increase exercise, which was supported by
the majority of respondents (46 out of 97 respondents which equated to 47.4% of
the responses). This would see a tariff
increase to fares of between 4%-13%, depending on the relevant tariff
period. Members were also asked to note
the proposal to amend the range for times of operation relating to Tariffs 1
and Tariff 2 (from 6am and midnight and midnight to 6am respectively, to be
amended to 7am to 7pm and 7pm to 7am respectively) . Members
were therefore asked to consider the proposals and recommend a preferred option
to Cabinet. It was explained that
following ratification by Cabinet, and if no objections are received following
advertisement in the press for a 14-day period, the fare tariff shall come into
effect immediately. If any objections are received then Cabinet will receive a
further report to consider these and to approve the fare tariff with or without
modification and the date upon this should come into effect. A representative of the CCBTDA and a local taxi proprietor also addressed the Committee regarding the proposals. They spoke of the need to increase fare tariffs in order to meet their increasing operation costs and provide a reasonable wage for ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |