Agenda item

The Council currently regulates the number of Hackney Carriage Proprietor Licences (HCPLs) in the city of Bath.  Because of this the Council is under a duty to carry out a review of any significant unmet demand every three years.

The Team Manager – Environmental Protection and Licensing presented the report and introduced Ian Millership, a consultant who had undertaken the latest unmet demand survey on behalf of the Council.

She explained that because the Council regulates the number of Hackney Carriage Proprietor Licences in the city of Bath, it is under a duty to carry out a review of any significant unmet demand every three years, and can create new Hackney Carriage proprietor licences for the city, if the survey finds that there is significant unmet demand. The latest survey had found that there was no significant unmet demand. The recommendation to the Committee was that it should recommend that the number of vehicles licences in Zone 1 (city of Bath) should remain at the present number of 125, and that the limitation policy should remain in place.

Mr Millership gave a presentation on his unmet taxi demand survey report. A copy of his PowerPoint slides is attached as Appendix 1.

After his presentation Members made comments and asked questions.

The Chair asked whether the Council could reduce the number of licences, if it was found that demand had decreased. Mr Millership replied that it could. A council near to where he lived had imposed a moratorium on new licences, and if an existing licence was surrendered, a new licence was not issued to replace it. The Team Leader – Legal advised that licences could only be revoked for defined reasons.

In response to questions from Members, the Senior Public Protection Officer stated:

• A Hackney Carriage Proprietor’s Licence for the city of Bath is seen as something of a cash asset because a Hackney Carriage can operate more flexibly than a private hire vehicle, and with the limitation policy in place there is a restricted market for operators.

• Hackney Carriage drivers in Bath tend to prefer certain ranks to work from than others, although there is encouragement to use a range of ranks.

• All new Hackney Carriages have to be wheelchair-accessible.

• There is very low demand for Hackney Carriages from wheelchair users.

• Some drivers had a preference for working in the day, others for working at night.

A Member asked about air quality. The Team Leader – Environmental Protection and Licensing replied that the Council  had been mandated to improve air quality by 2021 as part of the National Air Quality action plan; efforts would be made to make it easier for the public, including taxi operators, to own vehicles with cleaner engines and to improve the emissions performance of taxis. A Member referred to taxis idling adding to the air pollution. The Team Manager- Environmental Protection and Licensing said that consideration was being given to anti-idling areas; conversations with various parties were taking place about this. The Team Leader – Resources Legal Team said that idling is an offence under the Road Traffic Act, and that Civil Enforcement Officers have the power to issue penalties to drivers who idle.

It was proposed by Councillor Kew and seconded by Councillor Appleyard and RESOLVED unanimously to recommend:

1. that the number of vehicles in Zone 1 remains at 125;

2. that the limitation policy remains in place.