Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors P.J. Bevan and D. Cushing.

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.

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.