Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member for Resident Services proposing updates to the Taxi Policy

The Committee considered the report of the Cabinet Member for Resident Services which outlined proposed updates to the Taxi Policy and recommended that the updated Taxi Policy be adopted.

Southampton City Council Officers Phil Bates the Service Manager Licensing, and Russell Hawkins, Senior Licensing Officer were in attendance and with the consent of the Chair addressed the meeting.

The Committee noted that four changes to the current Taxi Policy were proposed:

·  The requirement for Hackney Carriages to have a working card machine

·  The implementation of a drug testing policy

·  The incorporation of the current Taxi Camera Policy into the main Taxi Policy

·  The addition at 8.7 of the Private Hire Conditions to update the door sticker style

Requirement for Hackney Carriages to have a working card machine.

In discussion the Committee noted that many customers now want to pay by card, and that many divers already use card machines in response to customer demand.  The addition of this requirement to the licence conditions would ensure consistency for all Hackney Carriage customers. Through the taxi forum meetings Hackney Carriage trade representatives had requested a requirement to have a working card machine to combat instances of a minority of drivers using the lack of car machine to refuse trips.  This requirement had been piloted for six months for all Hackney Carriages operating in the docks and had worked well.  It had been identified that it was important for the wording, the customers who paid by card viewed on their bank statements, regarding the financial transaction enabled the customer to identify the vehicle or driver or operator that took the payment.

It was proposed that section 13.1 of the Hackney Carraige Licence Policy and Conditions be amended to read as follows:

The vehicle must be equipped with a card payment terminal which can accept payment by credit/debit card, including contactless.  The device must be connected, maintained and working at all times that vehicle is available for hire to ensure customers are able to pay by card.  Customers that pay by card must be able to identify the vehicle or driver or registered limited company that took the payment on their bank statements.  In the case of driver identification or vehicle identification, plate numbers or badge numbers must be included.

Drug Testing Policy

In discussion the Committee noted that the drug testing policy would provide officers with the mandate to arrange for drivers to take a drug screening test where there was sufficient cause and reason to believe that an existing licence holder may be using drugs.  The local authority had a duty to protect public safety and was required to be sure that all taxi drivers were safe to drive.  If a person needed to take medication for health reasons and that medication had been identified by the National Health Service as unsafe to drive while under the influence then that person would not be a fit and proper person to drive a taxi.  A testing service would be procured from an appropriately licensed laboratory and the operational costs would be part of the business of enforcing the licences and the operational costs would be fully recoverable in the licensing fees so it would not increase the cost or burden on the Councils budge.

Incorporation of the Taxi Camera Policy into the main Taxi Policy

In discussion the committee noted that Department for Transport recommended that local authorities had single taxi policy therefore the current Taxi Camera Policy would be incorporated as an appendix to the main Taxi Policy.

The addition at 8.7 of the Private Hire Conditions to update the door sticker style

In discussion the Committee noted that this was a change to the sticker design that would make the door stickers look smarter and the change would be phased in gradually as and when the door stickers are replaced.

RESOLVED: that the updated Taxi Policy as detailed in the report at Appendix 1 would be adopted subject to the amendment of section 13.1 of the Hackney Carraige Licence Policy and Conditions with the wording proposed at the meeting as outlined above