Agenda item

The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the item, following on from a discussion of the draft statutory guidance for the taxi and private hire industry at the September meeting, and inviting Members to consider the improvements and direction of travel of this work.  He said a few things  have crystallised since September, but the Department of Transport has not yet confirmed the implementation of the statutory guidance. He highlighted aspects of his report as follows:

-          some of the actions laid out in the previous guidance have already moved on and been implemented, and some are ongoing, as explained after each action;

-          some work may sit better in GCC’s Taxi Licensing Task Group, such as flexible warranting under Action 2, which could be done through GCC or GLOG; this is a significant change;

-          under Action 3, safeguarding training is being implemented – a few further tweaks are needed;

-          having looked into the Disclosure and Barring Service, CBC does not have a legal obligation or duty to refer an individual to the DBS, but does have the power to do so – these are two different things.  CBC will have to go through case by case process to make referral;

-          CBC doesn’t carry out a disproportionately high or excessive level of enforcement action, but statutory guidance talks about reviewing work on a regular basis to pick up trends. This will be done;

-          CBC officers will work on improving liaison with the trade.  Officers have looked for advice from a representative body, with no response;

-          the information at Annex 2 regarding safety advice for taxi users will be posted on the website when complete;

-          Specific improvements require changes to policy or conditions,  for example for drivers requiring use of the update service through the DBS; there are slight differences in conviction policies across councils, and the statutory guidance may provide a template;

-          Improvements Action 4 deals with the CCTV issue, where it was clear last time that Members have concern. This could be brought about on a more consistent level nationally through the latest guidance – Information Commissioners Office (ICO) cases are going through now – but for the time being no requirements will be imposed on.  However, it is incumbent on CBC to produce more guidance for drivers as many do not understand their responsibilities.

The Chairman thanked the officer for his report, saying that safeguarding is an essential piece of work doing – really good place for starting the issues. In response to Members’ questions, the Senior Licensing Officer made the following points:

-          On the subject of flexible warranting – the variation of conditions between adjoining councils, and how to train and inform taxi drivers what it actually means and what their obligations are -  at the recent race meeting, South Gloucestershire colleagues, including a full-time, permanent police officer dedicated to taxis – joined Cheltenham officers for a night of enforcement.  Whereas CBC officers cannot do anything about Tewkesbury vehicles in the Cheltenham borough, he could pull over any vehicle, question the driver, who quickly understood and were compliant.  It was useful to see how powerful that tool was;

-          On the matter of CCTV, the member is correct that there are strong benefits, both for the passenger and the driver, but at the moment, CBC is not making it mandatory.    It can be a tool to protect them, but they need more advice about their responsibilities, and to be conscious of the threat of legal action if they are not using it correctly.

The Chair made the following minor suggestions:

-          ‘CSE’ in the introduction should be written out in full – ‘child sexual exploitation and abuse’;

-          ‘NR3’ should be defined as the national register of refusals and revocations of taxi licences;

-          A reverse contract should be included – how people are expected to consult themselves in taxis – drivers are as vulnerable as passengers, being lone workers and picking up strangers;

-          A Christmas campaign, reminding people to be sure about the vehicle they are getting into, is worth doing pointing out.

A member asked that CSE, GLOG and any other acronyms be written out in full when first mentioned.  He also suggested that after Members have been required to undergo training before sitting on Licensing Committee, any refresher training should be mandatory rather than optional.  The Senior Licensing Officer confirmed that this was flagged up because it is generally mentioned in statutory guidance, and there is inconsistency across councils.  It needs to be mandated to allow Members to attend, though the Chairman pointed out that CBC is a member-led authority, unlike some others, and Members are involved in a lot of work and decision-making.

The Chairman confirmed that Members are happy to approve the report with the minor amendments mentioned.

The Senior Licensing Officer introduced the item, following on from a discussion of the draft statutory guidance for the taxi and private hire industry at the September meeting, and invited Members to consider the improvements and direction of travel of this work.  He said a few things have crystallised since September, but the Department of Transport has not yet confirmed the implementation of the statutory guidance. He highlighted aspects of his report as follows:

-          some of the actions laid out in the previous guidance have already moved on and been implemented, and some are ongoing, as explained after each action;

-          some work may sit better in Gloucestershire County Council’s (GCC) Taxi Licensing Task Group, such as flexible warranting under Action 2, which could be done through GCC or the Gloucestershire Licensing Officers Group (GLOG) this is a significant change;

-          under Action 3, safeguarding training is being implemented – a few further tweaks are needed;

-          having looked into the Disclosure and Barring Service, CBC does not have a legal obligation or duty to refer an individual to the DBS, but does have the power to do so – these are two different things.  CBC will have to go through a case by case process to make a referral;

-          CBC doesn’t carry out a significant amount of enforcement action, but statutory guidance talks about reviewing work on a regular basis to pick up trends.  CBC officers will therefore work on liaison with the trade, although there is no easy answer - officers have looked at advice from a representative body, but got nothing back;

-          the information at Annex 2 regarding safety advice for taxi users will be posted on the website when complete;

-          there are quite a lot of items and improvements referred to in statutory guidance which will be better dealt with by GCC, to produce something meaningful to help everyone;

-          Level 2 considers changes to policy conditions, looking at the process regarding drivers and updating the service; there are slight differences in conviction policies across councils, and statutory guidance may carry out the work for CBC; a definitive version for all will follow;

-          Improvements Action 4 deals with the CCTV issue, where it was clear last time that Members have concern. This could be brought about on a more consistent level nationally through the latest guidance – cases are going through now – but for the time being no requirements will be imposed on drivers; these will follow in due course.  It is incumbent on CBC to produce more guidance for drivers as there are a lot of them out there with no clue about their responsibilities.

The Chairman thanked the officer for his report, saying that safeguarding is an essential piece of work and this is a really good place for starting to consider all the issues. In response to Members’ questions, the Senior Licensing Officer made the following points:

-          on the subject of flexible warranting – the variation of conditions between adjoining councils, and how to train and inform taxi drivers what it actually means and what their obligations are -  at the recent race meeting, South Gloucestershire colleagues (including a full-time, permanent officer dedicated to taxis) joined Cheltenham officers for a night of enforcement.  Whereas CBC officers cannot do anything about Tewkesbury vehicles in the Cheltenham borough, he could pull over any vehicle he wanted and question the driver, who quickly understood and were compliant.  It was useful to see how powerful that tool was;

-          On the matter of CCTV, the Member is correct that there are strong benefits, both for the passenger and the driver, but at the moment, CBC is not making it mandatory.  It advises drivers with CCTV to make sure their systems are compliant with the law, as another potential big issue is that drivers have no understanding of privacy law.  It can be a tool to protect them, but they need more advice about their responsibilities, and to be conscious of the threat of legal action if they are not using it correctly.

The Chair made the following minor suggestions:

-          ‘CSEA’ in the introduction should be written out in full – ‘child sexual exploitation and abuse’;

-          ‘NR3’ should be defined as the national register of refusals and revocations of taxi licences;

-          a reverse contract should be included – how people are expected to conduct themselves in taxis – drivers are as vulnerable as passengers, being lone workers and picking up strangers;

-          a Christmas campaign, reminding people to be sure about the vehicle they are getting into, is worth doing.

A member asked that CSE, GLOG and any other acronyms be written out in full when first mentioned.  He also suggested that after Members have been required to undergo training before sitting on Licensing Committee, any refresher training should be mandatory rather than optional.  The Senior Licensing Officer confirmed that this was flagged up because it is generally mentioned in statutory guidance, and there is inconsistency across councils.  It needs to be mandated to allow Members to attend, though the Chairman pointed out that CBC is a member-led authority, unlike some others, and Members are involved in a lot of work and decision-making.

The Chairman confirmed that Members are happy to approve the report with the minor amendments mentioned.