ROUND THE COUNCILS MALVERN HILLS:
PRESTON: LICENCE FEE SCRAPPED FOR GREEN VEHICLES
Licence fees for taxi drivers with fully electric vehicles will be scrapped to encourage more people to go green. The plans, which were approved by Malvern Hills District Council’s Executive Committee on 18 January, will see a waiver scheme implemented for the application fees to licence a vehicle as a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle where the vehicle is fully electric. The current cost of an annual vehicle licence fee is £285 for a HC vehicle licence and PH vehicle licence. The proposal, aims to provide an incentive for licence holders to transition towards fully electric vehicles from those fuelled by petrol or diesel. The waiver is set to start when the council’s fees and charges for 2022/23 take effect in April 2022 and it would then be reviewed annually. One of the key headings in the Destination Zero report is low carbon travel. One of the actions identified in the plan is to engage with taxi drivers locally to encourage and support them to switch to low emission vehicles. The council’s Destination Zero report explains how they will contribute to reducing carbon emissions from their own operations. It also sets out how they will use their leadership role to help individuals, businesses and communities play their part in reducing the district’s overall carbon emissions. Cllr Tom Wells, Portfolio Holder for Community Services at Malvern Hills District Council, said: “This licence fee change will hopefully work as an incentive to encourage taxi drivers to think about their carbon footprint and to go fully electric. “It is part of the council’s vision to go carbon neutral as quickly as possible, but by 2050 at the latest” Objections to the licencing fee change can be made within 28 days and if any are received during this period, they will be considered at a future Executive Committee meeting. Visit:
www.malvernhills.gov.uk/licensing to contact the licencing team at Worcestershire Regulatory Services.
CRAVEN: APPLICATION TO DELAY CCTV INSTALLATION
Members of Craven District Council’s Licensing Committee will hear two applications for the delay of the installation of CCTV cameras by taxi owners. The Craven Herald reports that last year, the council made it mandatory for taxis and PHVs to have CCTV fitted from the start of 2022. It also stated that vehicle owners would be able to apply under its hardship policy, for a longer length of time to install the equipment costing between £450 and £630. The committee will hear both applications in private session, and there will also be an update on the installation of CCTV in licensed vehicles.
20 CHANGES ON CONVICTIONS POLICY
Preston City Council has revised its hackney and private hire licensing policy, setting out how much time must usually have elapsed between convictions for a raft of different offences and the point at which a taxi licence could once again be granted. The guidance also covers those applying to become a taxi driver for the first time. The Lancashire Post reports that, the previous three-year ban for using a handheld device at the wheel has gone up to five years, while convictions for violent offences could now earn a driver a ten-year ban compared to five years previously. In the case of a driver found guilty of causing death by either dangerous or careless driving, the new policy states that, in line with IoL recommendations, seven years would have to pass before a taxi licence could be issued. Under the previous regime, no timeframe was suggested - and applica- tions would have been considered by the council’s Taxi and Miscellaneous Committee (TMC). Preston’s taxi licensing policy states that previous offending can be “considered as a predictor in determining future behaviour”, but notes that the greater the time since an offence has been committed, “the more likely the individual will desist from crime”. The TMC was consulted on the new policy before it was recently approved by the city council’s cabinet. Several offences will attract lifetime bans for Preston’s taxi drivers under the policy - including sexual offences and any non road-related crime that results in a person’s death. However, the new policy states that applicants with prior convictions will be considered on their own merits and appropriate discretion applied if their offence was isolated and there were mitigating circumstances. Labour cabinet member for planning and regulation David Borrow said that a widespread consultation with the taxi trade and the public had been carried out on the proposed changes to the licensing policy in order to inform the cabinet’s decision on the matter. Also under the new policy, drivers must notify the city council within 48 hours if they are arrested, charged or convicted of any motoring, sexual, violent or dishonesty offence - and must subscribe to the DBS’s online update system in order to fulfil the nationwide requirement for licensed drivers to undergo a criminal records check every six months. Six-monthly inspections of vehicles will continue despite national regulations demanding only annual checks. The authority decided against CCTV in taxis, noting that it would require “strong justification”. The RMT union was opposed to the move, although a majority of respondents from both the hackney and PH trades were in favour. But the council acknowledged cameras in cabs would provide “addi- tional deterrence to crimes and assist investigations” and pledged to keep the matter under review.
FEBRUARY 2022
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