Agenda item

A report from the Executive Director (Operations) is attached.

The Executive Director (Operations) submitted a report advising Members on the following proposals:-

·         Amendment to the implementation date for the hackney carriage and private hire transitional arrangements in relation to age and emissions standards for existing Bury licensed vehicles.

·         Amendment of the implementation date for the written-off vehicle to 1 April 2026 for existing licensed vehicles.

·         The removal of the minimum age requirement for new vehicles coming onto fleet for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles.

The Assistant Director of Operations and Strategy explained that the existing standards were proposed as part of the Greater Manchester Minimum Licensing Standards project and adopted by Council on the 24^th November 2021.  

The proposed recommendations in the report acknowledge concerns raised by the taxi trade and the amendments take account of the current economic climate, cost of living crisis and the delayed opening of the Clean Taxi Fund.

The Licensing Unit Manager also read out a statement in support of the changes submitted by the Bury Hackney Association.

The Licensing Unit Manager also read out a statement in support of the changes submitted by the Private Hire Drivers Association.

A letter was also circulated to the Committee from the Hackney Drivers Association Ltd with their comments included.

Members placed on record the good working relationship between Council Officers and the taxi trade was working well on matters such as this.

Delegated decision:

That the Licensing and Safety Committee considered and adopted the following amendments to the Minimum Licensing Standards and recommended to Full Council that the amendments are approved:

For existing vehicle licence proprietors:

·         That the transitional arrangements in relation to age and emissions standards are extended from 1 April 2024 to 1 April 2026 - This will assist hackney carriage and private hire vehicle owners to transition to the new requirements, whilst allowing them the ability to take advantage of the funding support package (Clean Air funding) once it is available. In order to achieve this compliance date, the amended policy will state that from 1 April 2025 a vehicle licence will not be renewed if the vehicle does not meet the above standards.

·           The implementation date for the written-off vehicle standards is extended to 1 April 2026. The amendment of to the written off policy is to permit vehicle licence holders who are currently licensed in Bury with a previously written off vehicle prior to the implementation of the Stage 2 of Common Minimum Standards in November 2021 to continue to be able to licence the vehicle until the 1 April 2026. In order to achieve compliance, the amended policy will state that from 1 April 2025 a vehicle licence will not be renewed if the vehicle has been previously written off. There will be no change to Council Policy relating to new vehicle licence applications in relation to this standard.

For new applications for vehicle licences

·         The minimum age requirement for new vehicles coming onto fleet is removed for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles - the current policy in relation to hackney carriage and private hire vehicles has a coming on age (new to fleet) as follows:-

§  PHV – under 5 years on to fleet and 10 years off

§  PHV WAV – under 7 years on to fleet and 15 years off

§  Purpose built HVC – under 7 on to fleet and 15 years off