Issue - meetings

The Council’s policy on Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Standards for Drivers, Vehicles and Operators (‘the Policy’) was agreed by Cabinet in December 2018.  The Clean Air Zone (CAZ) which is proposed to be launched in Bath on 15 March 2021, includes charging non-compliant licenced vehicles to enter the CAZ, and the Policy requires licensed vehicles to be compliant with the CAZ scheme

Councillor Paul Crossley introduced this report by saying that this was about aligning Taxi policy with Clean Air Zone (CAZ) policy.  The Council has received £9.4m from the Government to help taxis, coaches, buses and all commercial vehicles meet the requirements for clean air standards.  The report outlined the ways the funding would be used and so far there were 600 expressions of interest.  All of BANES taxi operators have been contacted by the Council to alert them to this offer.  Also, Councillor Crossley hoped that all of the local business and traders would take on this offer.  Anyone that applied would be fitted with a telematic device in order to check if they were eligible in meeting terms and conditions of the government grant. 

Councillor Paul Crossley moved the recommendations.

Councillor Sarah Warren seconded the motion by saying that she was pleased that the policy requires vehicles to have nitrogen dioxide emissions compliant with CAZ, barring some exemptions, as set out in the report.  Everyone can check the compliance of their vehicles with the DVLA vehicle checker, which can be accessed by the Council’s CAZ web page, and they can then contact the Council's CAZ team to establish whether they might be eligible for grants or loans.  Councillor Warren also said that the CAZ was an important public health measure that would improve air quality in the city and that she hoped that all taxi drivers would look into upgrading their vehicles.

RESOLVED (unanimously) that the Cabinet agreed to:

1)  Adopt the proposed amendment to the Policy which provides that all vehicles licensed by the Council must be (as a minimum) compliant with the terms of the Clean Air Zone and meet with its emission standards, unless they are eligible for exemptions as detailed in the CAZ scheme.

2)  Note that drivers using vehicles eligible for exemptions under and in accordance with the CAZ scheme will be exempted from enforcement action under the Policy