Agenda and minutes

Councillors/Staff to give notice of any disclosable pecuniary interest, other registrable interest or any other interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

None declared.

To answer questions from members of the public – submitted in writing or by electronic mail no later than 5.00pm, 2 working days before the meeting.

None received.

The Licensing and Compliance Officer submitted a report which sought the Committee to consider in light of current economic circumstances whether the table of fares charged by a hackney carriage should have been changed and to what level.

The Licensing and Compliance Officer explained the principal features of a hackney carriage and the regulatory function of the Council in relation to the vehicles and setting the table of fares. The table of fares was the fixed rates of fares within the borough that a hackney carriage proprietor could charge for their services.

The Committee noted that the last variation of the table of fares by the Council was on 1 June 2010.

Members were provided with the existing table of fares and a history of changes to the table of fares dating back to 1999.

The Committee considered the response received from a hackney carriage proprietor, requesting that the table of fares be reviewed and proposing that the rates of fares be increased by 10%.

Members compared the Council with the 365 authorities included in the National Fares Table dated February 2016 and tables of fares from all councils in the county.

The Committee noted extracts from the AA Fuel Price Reports of July 2010 and September 2017 pertaining to the price of unleaded petrol and diesel fuel.

The report provided to the Committee contained fuel price comparisons between filling stations in the North West.

Members noted that if the main domestic measure of inflation, the Retail Price Index (RPI), was applied at 10% as per the suggestion of the taxi proprietor in the responses received, the rate for the first mile would have increased from £2.90 to £3.19 and that if the rate of inflation which had increased from 2010 by 22.7% was applied, the rate for the first mile would increase from £2.90 to £3.56.

The Committee considered the changes to the national minimum and living wages that were to take effect from April 2016.

In summary, the Committee considered the following:

·  The representation made from the trade

·  The current vehicle and drivers licence fees

·  Comparisons of tables of fares nationally and locally

·  Extracts from fuel price reports

·  Fuel price comparisons within postcodes within the borough

·  Retail Price Index figures

·  Changes to the national minimum and living wages

The Licensing and Compliance Officer recommended that:

·  The table of fares to be given consideration to be increased based on the information contained in the report. The increase in price for fuel and the rate of inflation since 2010 to be noted. The suggestions from the trade put forward a change between £3.00 and £3.50 to the first mile and an increase to every 0.32 kilometre.

Councillor T Annison proposed £3.15 for the first mile and 5% increase across the board.

The Licensing Officer advised Members that the responses from the taxi drivers had proposed a 10% increase for the first mile and 42p thereafter, Kim Stevenson had put forward £3.00 for the first mile and Davies Taxis had put  ...  view the full minutes text for item 258.