Agenda item

The Senior Licensing Officer, Ms Rumney, introduced a report that sought approval that the existing ‘Minimum Size of Vehicle’ policy for all licenced hackney carriage and private hire vehicles be rescinded with immediate effect and that Licensing Officers continue to have discretion in determining the number of passengers a vehicle could be licensed to carry.

The original policy on the minimum size of vehicles had been approved by the Committee on 4^th November 2009, however, since that time the types, makes and models of vehicles had increased significantly providing more choice of vehicles to be suitably licensed, including smaller, low emission and electric vehicles which often did not comply with the current policy.  The proposal to rescind the policy and continue to give discretion to Licensing Officers would therefore increase the choice of vehicles and would mean smaller vehicles could be licensed but for fewer passengers.  The Committee was assured that the proposal was in line with Department for Transport Best Practice Guidance and the primary consideration would be to determine the number of passengers a vehicle could carry safely and comfortably.

(Councillor Qaseem joined the meeting)

Members asked a number of questions about the impact of rescinding the policy, including wheelchair access and whether problems would arise if smaller taxis arrived that were unable to carry the number of passengers the customer requested.  Ms Rumney explained that these issues would be matters for the trade to deal with when taking bookings, not a matter for the licensing authority which was seeking to widen choice and flexibility.  It was also noted that a majority of journeys were for single passengers.  Members were assured that vehicles would still be required to meet all other standards expected of a licensed vehicle in terms of safety and accessibility.

The Committee recognised that the market had changed considerably since the policy had been approved in 2009 and agreed to rescind it to provide more choice.  Members felt that it was important to raise public awareness of the need to ensure a vehicle ordered was able to carry the required number of passengers at the point of booking and it was therefore agreed that a press release be issued and communications activity take place.  It was also agreed that an update report on the take up and impact of the change to be provided at a future meeting of the committee after approximately a year of operation.

Resolved –

(a)  That the current ‘Minimum Size of Vehicle’ policy for all licensed hackney carriage and private vehicles be rescinded with immediate effect.

(b)  That any size of vehicle could be considered for licensing as either a private hire or hackney carriage vehicle, providing it complied with Slough Borough Council’s assisting policies including (but not limited to) the Vehicle Age Policy, Tinted Window Policy and Wheelchair Accessibility Policy.

(c)  That Licensing Officers would continue to have the discretion to determine how many adult passengers the vehicle could safely and comfortably carry.

(d)  That the Committee receive an update on the impact of the change in circa 12 months.