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Agenda and minutes
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Venue: Multi-Locational Meeting - Penallta House and Via Microsoft Teams. View directions
Contact: Rebecca Barrett
No. | Item |
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Recording, Filming and Voting Arrangements. The Chair reminded those
present that the meeting was being live-streamed and recorded and would be made
available following the meeting via the Council’s website – Click Here to View. Members
were advised that voting on decisions would be taken via Microsoft Forms. |
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Apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were
received from Councillors Mrs E.M. Aldworth and Mrs D. Price. |
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Declarations of Interest. Minutes: There
were no declarations of interest received at the commencement or during the
course of the meeting. |
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Consultation Results and Future Provision of Licensed Vehicle Testing. PDF 273 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Lee Morgan (Licensing Manager)
presented the report, which informed Members
of the results of a consultation exercise with the licensing trade on future
vehicle testing arrangements of Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Vehicles, and
also asked the Taxi and General Committee to consider the options for future
testing provision, consultation results and views of Licensing and other
stakeholders in order to determine future testing requirements. Members were reminded that in 2021, the Caerphilly County Borough Taxi Driver Association (CCBTDA) requested that
requirements for vehicle testing for Hackney Carriages and Private Hire
vehicles be changed in order to accept MOT test certificates from any approved
MOT testing station rather than the current in-house facility based at the Tir-y-Berth Depot.
The latter currently carries out an MOT check and compliance check on
other requirements for licensed vehicles.
As the CCBTDA does not represent all licensees
and licensed vehicle owners, a consultation exercise was carried out with the
whole trade to ascertain their views on current service provision and potential
future options. The report outlined the
result of that consultation exercise, additional information on testing
requirements, views of other stakeholders and implications of potential changes
in order for Members to make an informed decision on future testing
provision. It was noted that the consultation survey (attached at Appendix A) was placed on the
Council’s website and an email was also sent to over 400 licensed drivers,
operators and vehicle licence holders encouraging them to take part in the
survey, with the CCBTDA also asked to raise awareness of the survey with their
members. Overall, only 48 responses to the consultation were received, which
were from a mix of driver licence and vehicle proprietor licence holders and
one private hire vehicle operator, and which equated to a response rate of 12%
of consultees. A summary of responses
was set out at Section 5.7.3 of the report and a full list of comments was
included at Appendix B. It was noted
that 20 respondents (42%) were satisfied with the existing testing arrangements
for hackney carriage and private hire vehicles, with the other 28 respondents
(58%) not satisfied with the existing arrangements. The results of the survey
were shared with Fleet Services who provided comments in response which were
set out at Section 5.8 of the report.
The report also outlined the demands and pressures on the Fleet Services
team, who have been experiencing
difficulties in filling vacancies for mechanics and MOT testers across the
service area for some time. It was
highlighted in the report that with these ongoing pressures, the service must prioritise
maintenance of the Council’s own fleet of vehicles which are essential for
service delivery. The report therefore
emphasised the need to require an alternative option for providing the “taxi”
MOT licensing function for the authority. The Committee were provided with a comparison of the Taxi testing provision across all 22 authorities in Wales in 2019, with it noted that since this time, the numbers in respect of the in-house ... view the full minutes text for item 3. |
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Additional documents: Minutes: Lee Morgan (Licensing Manager) presented the
report, which outlined proposed changes to the council’s policy and
Licensing Requirements for Hackney Carriage (Taxi) and Private Hire Vehicles,
Drivers and Operators following the publication of the Department for Transport
(DfT) Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle
Standards and Welsh Government’s Harmonisation Guidance on Taxi and Private
Hire Vehicle Licensing in Wales. The
report also sought Members’ approval of the proposed changes following a period
of consultation in respect of Disclosure and Barring Service requirements
affecting drivers, vehicle proprietors and Private Hire Vehicle Operators and
changes to medical requirements for licensed drivers. Members were referred to Sections 5.1 to 5.3 of
the report which set out the history of the DfT
Standards and Welsh Government’s Harmonisation Guidance, with links to both
documents included in the report as background papers. Section 5.4 of the report set out the
rationale for adopting the practices advocated in both documents, which mainly
relate to increased public safety, consistency of standards across Wales,
harmonised enforcement, increased accessibility of vehicles and better
standards of customer service. The
Committee were reminded that Licensing have already adopted some of the
procedures advocated by these documents, in particular the National Register
for Revocations and Refusals (NR3), together with the Institute of Licensing
approach to the suitability and fitness criteria of applicants and license
holders. However, Members were asked to
note that some of the proposed changes would require the Council’s existing
policies to be subject to consultation and amendment. Members were advised that the DfT
and Welsh Government Harmonised Standards had already been circulated to
drivers, vehicle proprietors and operators and to the CCBTDA in March and April
2021 to provide an insight into proposals.
A formal 4-week consultation exercise was subsequently undertaken with
the trade in relation to matters concerned with changes to Disclosure and
Barring Service requirements and changes to Medicals between 11th May 2022 and
11th June 2022. Details of the subjected
matters consulted upon and proposed revisions were summarised at Section 5.7 of
the report. A copy of the consultation
document circulated to drivers, vehicle proprietors and Private Hire Operators
was attached to the report as Appendix 1. It was highlighted to Members that one of the significant changes proposed relate to a requirement for 6-monthly Disclosure and Barring (DBS) checks for drivers (which is currently undertaken on a 3-yearly cycle), primarily via the DBS Update Service which will require drivers to sign up to the Update Service at next renewal of their licence. Provision is also catered for drivers who are unable to join the Update service. In such instances, drivers will have to provide an enhanced DBS check specifically required for the role of a taxi driver every 6 months. This will mean that the Licensing Department will be able to bring drivers who do obtain a conviction that does not meet the fitness criteria to Sub Committee far more quickly in order to determine suitability However, it was emphasised that this would not ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |