Issue - meetings

The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director – Enterprise, Community and Resources, which presented a recommendation from the Regulatory Committee, for the Board to approve amendments to the current taxi licensing policies.

The Board was advised that in July 2020, the Department for Transport (DfT) published statutory guidance referred to as the ‘Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards’ (appendix A to the report).  The focus within the standards was the protection of children and vulnerable adults and a number of recommendations were made.  It was noted that the DfT expected these recommendations to be implemented by local authorities unless there was a compelling reason not to. 

The report outlined the recommendations considered by the Regulatory Committee, the consultation process and the options available to them with regards to the guidance.

RESOLVED:  That the following be adopted:

1)    a requirement that all new applicants be checked against a central database prior to being licensed and that a National Register be updated with details of licence refusals and revocations;

2)    a requirement for all licensed drivers to be registered with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) update service so that more frequent checks could be conducted; and

3)    an amendment to the vehicle licensing policy requiring the display of a customer feedback notice in vehicles.