Agenda item

The Specialist – Licensing introduced the report.  She advised that the remarking of the taxi rank on Old Station Road, Yeovil to include new markings on the tarmac, the removal of markings for the allowance for wheelchairs and provision of additional bays would require a formal consultation process and variation procedure.  She suggested that as an alternative the signage could be changed which would eliminate the requirement to consult and advertise changes to the rank.  She also referred to there being implications in relation to Yeovil Refresh and recommended that it may be beneficial to engage with the Yeovil Refresh Board before making any decision on changing the signage on the rank.

During the discussion, members made the following comments:

·         Noted that there was an ongoing car parking review which could have implications for the car park.

·         Concern that further changes may be made to the car park and the preferred option would be to defer the decision until further information was known about the implications of the Car Park Review and Yeovil Refresh.

·         There was a need for the Taxi Licensing Policy to be reviewed as a matter of urgency.

·         Support for consultation to take place with the Yeovil Refresh Board before any decision is made on changing the signage on the rank.

·         It was suggested that the Portfolio Holder should be involved in the process of reviewing the Taxi Licensing Policy and invited to attend the meetings.

·         It was noted that the policy stated that all new vehicle applications should be restricted to purpose built wheelchair accessible vehicles until 20% of the total hackney carriage fleet was wheelchair accessible.  Currently 48% of the vehicles were wheelchair accessible therefore the policy had been met.

In response to a questions, the Specialist – Licensing confirmed the following:

·         The whole of the Taxi Licensing Policy would be reviewed.   A meeting was being held later in the month to start the process.

·         The current stock of licence plates showing the old Council logo would be used up first so there would be a period of time where there would be a mixture of plates showing the old and new Council logo. 

·         Licence plates were valid for one year. It would take about six months for the old plates to no longer be in use.

·         A review of the Taxi Licensing Policy covered a number of different areas and would require a lot of work from officers including consultation with the taxi drivers and members of the public.  It may not be possible to bring a draft policy back to the next scheduled meeting of the Licensing Committee in March.

At the conclusion of the debate, members agreed that the Taxi Licensing Policy should be reviewed as a matter of urgency and be brought back to the next Licensing Committee scheduled to be held on 10^th March 2020 or as soon as practicable after this date.  Members were of the view that the decision on changing the signage on the ranks should be deferred to allow consultation with Yeovil Refresh.  Members supported using the current stock of vehicle licence plates with the old council logo before changing over to the new council logo.

(Voting: unanimous)