Decision details

A request to the Cabinet Member for Development and Safety from the Cheltenham Taxi Drivers Association to review the implementation date of the adopted wheelchair accessible (WAV) policy for hackney carriages in light of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the licensed trade.

The Cabinet Member for Development and Safety decided that the substantive decision taken to implement the WAV policy by December 2021 should remain in force.

1. The substantive policy decision was taken in 2018, which gave licence holders sufficient time to plan and prepare for the transition.

2. Changing the implementation date of the WAV policy would penalise other licence holders who have already changed their saloon vehicles to wheelchair accessible vehicles.

3. There is financial support available to the trade through the Government’s ‘Self-Employment Income Support Scheme’ that is aimed at mitigating financial loss caused by the pandemic.

4. Further mitigation to support the hackney carriage trade has been put in place locally, including the ability for saloon hackney carriage vehicles to be re-licensed as private hire vehicles.

5. A further delay will adversely affect the primary policy intention, which is to make publicly available transport in Cheltenham more inclusive and accessible to all.

To amend the WAV policy implementation date. Rejected for the reasons outlined above.

Support for the proposed decision by the Cabinet Member for Development and Safety in respect of the request received from the Cheltenham Taxi Drivers Association, that the original policy position should be maintained.

Informally with Cabinet members.

There is no explicit requirement for further formal consultation, or reconsideration of the original policy decision, since the substantive decisions, which are the subject of the request received, had already been taken in November 2018, following due process.