Agenda item

At their meeting of 12 July 2022 Cabinet resolved to further consider the vehicle age requirements for first licensing of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.

Purpose of report

At their meeting of 12 July 2022 Cabinet resolved to further review the vehicle age requirements for first licensing of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles.

Decision

That Cabinet review the South Kesteven District Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy (‘the Policy’) upon publication of the results of the Department for Transport’s consultation on the revised Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Best Practice Guidance for Licensing Authorities in England.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Other options that had been available to Cabinet included:

·         Amending the Policy to alter or remove the current vehicle age criterion for newly licensed vehicles; and;

·         Amending the Policy based on the draft best practice guidance, introducing an emissions-based criterion for newly licensed vehicles.

Reason for decision

The adoption of the South Kesteven District Council Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy was an executive function of the Council.

The Government had not yet published a response to the consultation and the current draft Best Practice may be subject to change.

All elements of the existing Policy would be reviewed in full following the publication of the revised Department for Transport Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Best Practice Guidance for Licensing Authorities in England. Any changes made prior to the final guidance could have resulted in subsequent alterations to the same elements of the Policy.

Other points raised by the Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing were as follows:

·         The current Policy was approved by Cabinet on 12 January 2020. The Policy included conditions related to the age of vehicles at first licensing.

·         In March 2022 the Department for Transport consulted on changes to Best Practice Guidance with vehicle licensing authorities. The consultation closed in June 2022; however, the final guidance and the responses to the consultation had not yet been published.

·         At the Cabinet meeting in July 2022 there was consideration given to a recommendation from the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee to urgently review the vehicle age at first licensing aspect of the Policy, paying special regard to the vehicle age five-year rule.

·         The Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing wrote to the government minister responsible, The Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP on 28 July 2022 requesting an update on progress. A response was received on 27 October 2022 advising that the Department for Transport was progressing work as quickly as possible but that there was no specific date for the publication of the final guidance.

·         Draft Best Practice Guidance acknowledges that most authorities have a Policy that focussed on the age of the vehicle.

·         This report was initially due to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting in October but was delayed due to the pre-election period surrounding by-elections held around that time.

The following points were raised during discussion:

·         The approval of taxi licences was an executive function of the Council, following best practice guidance produced by the Government.

·         Comparisons and benchmarking against other local authorities had been carried out and was contained within the report.

·         Grantham town centre was an air quality management area and was subjected to regular reporting on air quality. Vehicles were a major contributor to poor air quality, and taxis contributed to this as they spend a large proportion of time driving around the town centre. Two factors that could improve the air quality in Grantham, and the wider District were:

o   An air quality package would provide infrastructure to improve air quality in Grantham specifically; and;

o   Council policies would be updated to support low emission vehicles.