Taxi Forum Minutes 03/12/08 - Hambleton District Council

HAMBLETON DISTRICT COUNCILTAXI FORUMWEDNESDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2008NOTES OF MEETINGPresentMartyn Richards – Head of Service – LegalDiane Henry – Electoral and Licensing ManagerKevin Suffield– Enforcement OfficerClive Thornton – Engineering Maintenance OfficerGraham Hind – NYCC HighwaysSgt Claire Sawyer – NY PoliceDave Watson – Representing Northallerton and Bedale AreaSyd Townend – Representing Thirsk and Easingwold AreaJanet Kirk – Representative re disability issuesACTION:1. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS:Martyn Richards welcomed attendees and introduced Dave Watson, thenew representative for the Northallerton and Bedale Area andGraham Hind from NYCC Highways who was substituting forNigel Smith.2. APOLOGIES:Jeff Cohen – Stokesley and Great Ayton Area RepresentativePC Thompson - NY PoliceCouncillor T Swales – Chairman of Licensing and EnvironmentalProtection CommitteePaul Fisher – Over 50s ForumSgt S Whitby – NY Police3. MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 2 APRIL 2008:The Group was updated on the following items contained in theminutes:-• Traffic Management Schemes:Northallerton – Mr Hind advised the Group that due to various factorsincluding the forthcoming introduction of car parking charges it hadbeen necessary for the consultants to re-draft their report. Draft reportnow completed and being assessed by NYCC against priorities andfunding being considered. This exercise should be completed shortlyand proposals will then be subject to public consultation.- 1 -

ACTION:• Taxi Ranks:Northallerton:High Street - It was agreed that the temporary solution of providingadditional bays on the rank near the Town Hall had eased theproblems. If this was to be a permanent arrangement the trade wouldprefer that the whole of the area north of the Town Hall was utilised fora taxi rank with the current entrance near the pedestrian crossingbeing closed. Taxis would then enter and exit via the Town Hall in ahorseshoe formation and there should be no right turn onto the HighStreet. Some disabled bays would be lost as a result but trade wouldbe prepared to give up part of the existing Zetland Street rank tocompensate for this.Elder Road – nothing to discuss.Zetland Street - To be discussed elsewhere on the agenda.Thirsk:Clive Thornton had put options for suggested change of layout of therank to Sid Townend for comments. Sid Townend and Clive Thorntonto get together after the meeting to discuss options and devise planfor layout. Proposal would then go to Licensing and EnvironmentalProtection Committee and if approved would be advertised for publicconsultation. Clive Thornton advised the Group that subject toapproval it was intended to surface the first bay on the rank with ategular paved surface.Buses sometimes do not pull right up to the bus stop making accessdifficult for disabled passengers and Clive Thornton to speak to thebus companies about this.CTNoticeboard now erected on the rank. ‘Taxis Only’ sign to be erectedat the rank.Easingwold:NYCC had devised a scheme which went out for public consultation.Debate conducted with Town Council and as a result scheme revised.This will go out again for public consultation in the New Year.Clive Thornton understood that no provision for a taxi rank included nthe revised scheme. Taxi service in Easingwold operates on a mostlypre-booked basis so this should not cause too much of a problem.Stokesley:Clive Thornton confirmed that all evidence of rank had been removed.• Review of HDC Disability Practices and Procedures:Last meting of the Taxi Service Disability Working Group to be held on17 December.- 2 -

ACTION:• Customer Care Course:To be discussed elsewhere on the agenda.• Customer Survey:Nothing to raise.• Road Safety Act (Special Events Vehicle Policy):Kevin Suffield only aware of two companies with special eventsvehicles in the district. Neither of them appear to be operating atpresent and they have been made aware that if they do wish tooperate they will need to be licensed. At the last meeting mention hadbeen made of a company with a stretch limousine operating inSwainby but unable to obtain any evidence of this. Janet Kirkmentioned a company in Brompton (J Pollett) which hires out specialevents vehicles. It may be that these are only used for weddingswhich are exempt but Kevin Suffield to speak to the proprietor to makesure that this is the case.KS• Top Boxes:Nothing to report.• Ranking Up outside Black Bull, Northallerton:Dave Watson advised that due to safety issues in Elder Road whennightclub closes a lot of customers are asked to go down the yard bythe Black Bull and wait to be collected from there. However, it wasagreed that as the Black Bull has residential accommodationcustomers should be asked to wait further down the street to avoiddisturbance. Since article in the recent newsletter no furthercomplaints had been received.• Plying for Hire:Driver referred to at the last meeting who had been prosecuted forplying for hire in a neighbouring area had appeared before theLicensing Hearings Panel and his licence had been revoked. He hadappealed against this to the Magistrates’ Court and case ongoing.4. UPDATES ON MATTERS ARISING FROM LAST MEETING:-(a) Customer Care Courses:Six month period for drivers to undertake a customer care courseexpires at end of January. Still about twenty existing drivers whohave not signed up for a course. All drivers reminded both by letterand telephone that they need to undertake a course. Furtherreminder will be included in the Newsletter to be issued in Decemberand Dave Watson will remind drivers on the rank. Last scheduledcourse is on 19 January.- 3 -

ACTION:From 1 February new drivers will have 12 months from the date of issueof their licence to complete a course. A course is likely to be held inJanuary annually.5. NEW AGENDA ITEMS:(a) Judicial Review:As a result of a recent High Court ruling which clarified the law inthis area, Local Authorities can now take into account where ahackney carriage will operate when deciding whether to issue alicence. Martyn Richards to submit a report to the Licensing andEnvironmental Protection Committee on 16 December requestingviews on whether or not hackney carriages which will predominantlyoperate outside the district should be licensed by Hambleton. Ifdecision is taken not to license such vehicles in future consultationwill have to be undertaken with the trade and any comments fedback to the Committee for final approval. The most practical date forintroduction of any revised arrangements would be 1 August 2009.(b) Northallerton Farmers’ Market Taxi Rank Arrangements:Farmers’ Market unlikely to relocate unless the operators choose todo so. Capacity of temporary taxi rank has been increased andnow 3/4 bays available. Problem with drivers parking on yellow linesopposite the temporary rank but this is only usually for a short timeuntil a space on the rank becomes available. Dave Watson advisedthe Group that not as many hackney carriages operate inNorthallerton on Farmers’ Market days due to reduced size of rank.Martyn Richards to speak to Eric Kendall about any possible scopefor increasing the capacity on the temporary rank by one additionalspace.JMR(c) Hackney Carriage Test Date Allocation of Side Panels and Plate toOperator:At present the testing garage affixes side panels to vehicles oncetest passed. Drivers then have to return to Civic Centre to obtainthe plate. Dave Watson suggested that to save time drivers shouldbe able to collect the plate from the Civic Centre and take it to thegarage at the time of the test. The Council would prefer to retain thecurrent system as it is necessary to check that once the car haspassed the test it is being driven by a licensed taxi driver. Also if thevehicle fails the test then the plate would remain with the garage andhave to be collected. Martyn Richards advised the Group that theseissues had been discussed by the Licensing staff and althoughposition may change if certain other issues resolved it was agreed tohold the matter in abeyance for the time being.KS- 4 -

ACTION:(d) Parking on Romanby Green:This is a matter for NYCC Highways and any issues should bereferred to them. The problem relates to vehicles being parked onthe road by the green which means there is only single file trafficand visibility is not good. Claire Sawyer will raise this with the PoliceTraffic Manager who will liaise with Highways and Parish Council willalso be contacted.CS(e) Zetland Street:Martyn Richards had visited the Zetland Street rank to observe anyproblems. Dave Watson said problem particularly on Market Dayswith only two bays for taxis and Blue Badge holders parking on theother side of the road which makes access for buses difficult.PCSOs do come down sometimes but increased presence needed.Claire Sawyer advised that Police only have two PCSOs forNorthallerton but review to be carried out shortly which hopefully willlead to more officers, PCSOs and Special Constables being madeavailable. Claire has also asked the CCTV control room to targetcameras to that area so that officers can be deployed whenproblems occur. Some drivers issued with tickets for illegal parkinghad appealed to the Magistrates’ Court and their appeal had beenupheld. Kevin Suffield to go into Northallerton one Wednesday toobserve the situation.KS6. ANY OTHER BUSINESS:(a) Enforcement:Kevin Suffield gave an update on enforcement issues since the lastmeeting:-Licensing Panel Hearings:One driver convicted of plying for hire outside the area. HearingsPanel had suspended his licence but he has since appealed to theMagistrates’ Court.Hearing was to be held relating to a driver who had been convictedof driving a vehicle without insurance (not a taxi). He wasdisqualified from driving having amassed six or more points on hislicence within the first two years of attaining it and was required topass a theory and practical test to regain his licence. This had onlycome to light when the driver applied to renew his hackney carriagelicence with the Council. He subsequently surrendered his hackneycarriage licence and in view of this hearing did not proceed.- 5 -

ACTION:Written Warnings:Ten written warnings issued for various offences, including driverusing non hands free mobile phone, driver not wearing badge,plates and side panels not being displayed, driver conduct,overcharging and carrying more than authorised number ofpassengers in vehicle.Complaints:Nine complaints received. Five relating to driver conduct, tworelating to driving standards and two overcharging. Complainantsoften refuse to make formal statements or attend Hearings Panelwhich means that complaints can’t be taken any further.Top Boxes:From April to August forty letters issued relating to vehicles notdisplaying the required top boxes, two or three of which were in theHambleton area. Since September only three warning lettersissued. Stockton and Middlesbrough Councils have helped inreporting taxis in their areas operating without top boxes.(b) Dave Watson raised the following issues:-Plying for Hire in Bedale:It had been alleged that vehicles from a private hire companylocated in Richmond are bringing passengers into Bedale and theninstead of returning to Richmond are parking near the rank andpicking up fares. Kevin Suffield will observe what is happening andliaise with his opposite number in Richmond regarding action to betaken.KSNewsletter:Suggested that in addition to the Newsletter the notes of Taxi Forummeetings should be sent out to drivers as they give greater detail ofhow the Licensing Section operates. The Taxi Forum notes areavailable on the website and it was agreed that trade should bereminded of this in the next Newsletter.DH(c) Sid Townend raised the following issues:-Hackney Carriage Tests:Problem with vehicle testing recently as Wakes did not have anMOT tester available. Vehicle to be tested had to transfer to agarage in Carlton Miniott at short notice. This raised the issue ofwhether more than one testing garage should be appointed for thedistrict. Current contract expires at the end of March 2009.Martyn Richards agreed to consider whether an additional garagepossibly in the south of the district could be appointed.DH- 6 -

CTION:First Aid Kits:Policy states that where possible these should be sited in the frontcentre of the vehicle or in the front passenger compartment. If this isnot possible a sign should be displayed on the dashboard statingwhere the kit is located. However it was suggested that in somecases vehicles have passed their test with first aid kits located in theboot of vehicles even though there is sufficient room in the front.Martyn Richards agreed that garage should be reminded of thecorrect procedure to be adopted when testing vehicles.DHThirsk Christmas Fayre:At the recent Christmas Fayre signs were not put out regarding thetemporary relocation of the taxi rank. Clive Thornton confirmed thatthis had been a communication problem with the organiser and hewill investigate to try and ensure that it doesn’t happen again.CTMeters:Issue of introduction of meters raised again. Martyn Richardsadvised that there were no staff resources available to deal with thisissue at present but it will be considered in the next couple of yearsor so.(d) Janet Kirk raised the following issue:-Charges for Disabled Passengers:Some disabled passengers are being charged extra for the time ittakes for them to access the vehicle and have their wheelchair put inthe back of the vehicle. Principle should be that because it takeslonger for someone to get into a vehicle they should not have to paymore. Martyn Richards to look into this and make it clear to thetrade what the position is. It was agreed that this should bediscussed at the next Taxi Service Disability Working Group.However, if these problems relate to pre-booked journeys theCouncil is unable to take any action.JMR7. FUTURE MEETINGS:It was agreed that meetings of the Taxi Forum should be held quarterlyin future.- 7 -