Meeting documents

For Members to consider the attached report.

Contact Officer: Simon Gallacher: 01296 585083

The Department for Transport Taxi and Private Hire Licensing: Best Practice Guidance (March 2010) encouraged authorities to review their hackney carriage quantity control policies every three years. At present, 50 hackney carriages served Aylesbury town. The last detailed review was carried out in 2014 and concluded there was no significant unmet demand with the next review scheduled in 2017. In September 2017, the Committee had considered the unmet demand survey for Aylesbury Town Centre and agreed to defer it to allow the trade to replace vehicles as a consequence of a pending change to hackney vehicle specification agreed in principle by the Licensing Committee in March 2017. Members felt that this would allow the survey to be more accurate and take the changes into account.

It was reported to the Committee that establishing appropriate new vehicle standards had proved complex. In addition, the taxi trade had reported that access to taxi ranks had continued to be contentious in Aylesbury Town Centre in part due to BCC implementing changes to parking and traffic arrangements in the town centre. These changes included the installation of parking meters and the removal or relocation of some ranks, negatively affecting the trade’s finance and ability to serve travelling members of the public. The Principal Licensing Officer had liaised with the new BCC Parking Manager who had acknowledged that the situation was complex and that a review of parking arrangements and taxi rank provision in Aylesbury was necessary. It was BCC’s intention to undertake a review of parking and traffic arrangements in summer 2018 so until a long term solution was established then an unmet demand survey would not be meaningful. Moreover, the Department for Transport were expected to receive a stakeholder’s report from the ‘Task and Finishing Group’ who were tasked with making focussed recommendations in the next couple of months. Following their report it was anticipated that the DfT would commence consultation on revised versions of its ‘Statutory Guidance’ and ‘Best Practice Guidance’. The anticipated reports and publications may have an impact on AVDC’s future decision to limit hackney carriage licenses.

Representatives of operators of rural taxis outside Aylesbury Town Centre, which were identifiable as white, purpose built taxis displaying a red plate on the rear, were keen for the current limit to be reviewed and increased as soon as possible. Their rationale was that the development in and around Aylesbury and the increased population had meant that demand for taxis had increased in the town centre.

Members discussed the merits of removing the limit, citing that it would allow the market to decide what was needed and that it would give customers more choice and better pricing. This course also meant that an unmet need survey would not need to be done. However, it was noted that other authorities that had previously removed a hackney carriage limit had since re-introduced it. Members were therefore minded to retain the limit rather than remove it altogether. The Committee also suggested it would be beneficial for officers to investigate why other authorities had removed limits then reintroduced them.

Upon asking additional questions, Members were advised

      i.        Indication from the new Parking Manager at BCC was that their review would commence in July 2018 and were aware of the volatility the situation had created. Members saw merit in inviting the Parking Manager to the next Licensing Meeting and Members raising this through internal channels at BCC.

     ii.        Officers would liaise with colleagues in planning to establish whether future rank provision had been incorporated into the Courthouse redevelopment.

On balance, the Committee felt that there was clear rationale in deferring the unmet demand survey until the BCC situation was resolved as there was the distinct possibility of the findings of the survey not being meaningful after publication. Moreover, Members felt that undertaking the survey now was not prudent given the current situation of the trade and the potential outcome of increasing the number of hackney carriages operating in the town centre.

RESOLVED –

That the decision to carry out the unmet demand survey in respect to AVDC’s hackney carriage quantity control policy for Aylesbury Town be deferred until September 2018.