Issue - meetings

To note the deputation.

The Committee received a deputation from Chris Douglas in relation to item 4.1 (Taxi and Private Hire Policy). Article 9 of this minute refers.

Mr Douglas advised that it was his understanding that when a policy was reviewed, the local authority was required to clearly define the scope of the review and take a substantive review on the policy as a whole, and not only on those clauses that have not been reviewed for some time, as this could be seen as procedurally unfair.

He indicated that Appendix 1 stated, in the first paragraph, that the policy was approved by the Licensing Committee on 26 October 2022, with an implementation date of 1 April 2023, and amended on 4 December 2025, which suggested the policy was both relatively recent and already amended.

He sought to clarify when the individual clauses within this policy were last reviewed, and how long ago that review took place.

He made reference to the policy, noting that it contained 29 clauses, grouped into four clear categories, which were taxi vehicle conditions; private hire vehicle conditions; shared taxi and private hire vehicle conditions and driver conditions.

He explained that these covered matters such as, but not limited to zoning, vehicle age, wheelchair accessibility, advertising, CCTV, and of course the Street Knowledge Test.

He intimated that it was important for the trade/stakeholders to have clarity about exactly which clauses were now being reconsidered, and why, given that there had also been no stakeholder engagement.

He made reference to the report, which in the case of ‘Zoning’, suggested  that views were sought on combining the current city and airport taxi zones, so that all taxis were licensed for the whole council area. He indicated that it was his understanding that this related directly to clause 5.1.2 of the policy, which applied to taxis, noting that the clause referred to city taxis, identified by yellow plates, and airport taxis, identified by green plates. He advised that the wording referred to pre-booked work, but it did not explicitly include private hire vehicles, even though private hire vehicles could and do operate also at the airport through pre-booking. He suggested that it would be helpful that it clearly state which clause was being considered; what it currently said and which vehicle types it applied to.

In terms of ‘vehicle age limits’, Mr Douglas intimated that the report stated that wheelchair accessible vehicles must be no more than 10 years old at first licensing, and other vehicles, no more than 5 years old, and asked whether those limits remain appropriate. He explained that those requirements appeared across multiple clauses including clause 5.1.5 for taxis, clause 5.2.1 for private hire vehicles, and clause 5.1.3 for wheelchair accessible vehicles. He sought confirmation whether the recommendation was aimed at taxis, private hire vehicles, wheelchair accessible vehicles only, or all three, noting that without clarity, consultation risked becoming confused and misleading.

In relation to ‘advertising’, Mr Douglas indicated that the report noted that advertising was permitted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4