Agenda item

Present:

Ben Thomson – Head of Public Protection – Chair

Michael Bridge – License Unit Manager

Nazmul Islam – Business Engagement Officer

Charles Oakes – The Hackney Driver Assoc. Ltd

David Lawrie – National Private Hire Taxi Association

Muhammad Warriach – Private Hire Drivers Association Bury

PC Peter Eccleston – GMP Bury District Licensing Officer

Sham Raja – National Private Hire & Taxi Association

Khalid Hussain – Bury Hackney Association

Cllr. Gavin McGill – New Chair of Licensing and Safety Committee

Naveed Aijaz – PHDA Bury

Habib Ur Rehman - GMB Union

Mathew Freckleton - Uber

Cllr. Morris – Cabinet Member responsible for Licensing

Laura Swann – assistant Director of Operations

Minutes:  Maureen Foden

1.

Welcome & Apologies

Kirsty Wild, Fiona James

2.

Minutes & Actions of previous meeting 11.05.23 & Matters Arising

The minutes from the previous meeting were agreed as a true record.

·         Actions that are still open will be completed.

·         In response to a question regarding licensed vehicle enforcement at Parklife 2023. Licensing officers identified an individual without a badge and reports regarding non Bury Licensed vehicles were sent to relevant organisations on unlicensed vehicles.

·         Comments on bus lanes not being able to be used by the Private Hire trade was confirmed and a trade rep advised this was disappointing.

3.

GMP Update

There have been 53 incidents reported with taxi in the narrative, this was reduced down to 19 incidents where a driver has been a victim or an offender, a summary update was given on a number of these.

The police are receiving a lot more reports due to the encouragement drivers are receiving by their various organisations, it is just disappointing that they are not being followed through.

It was reported that the reason drivers do not follow through is that the police are not responding back to the victims, this is breaking the line of communications.

ACTION 1:     NA reported a crime which has not been responded to, he was asked                         to provide PC Eccleston with his crime number for him to follow up on

Regarding a Wolverhampton crime, the driver has been suspended and has not only lost his taxi licence but also his driver licence.

ACTION 2:     PE to investigate out of area incidents with colleagues from relevant             forces.ranks

Police response to calls is dependent on the risk of the crime, which are triaged. If it constitutes as a criminal offence, then in theory it should be followed up within a couple of days of the crime being recorded. If it does not constitute a criminal offence, it will not be followed up.

Taxis’ ranking up illegally need to be reported through parking services so they can gather evidence to be able to allocate resources to   address the issue. If they are from Wolverhampton it needs to be reported through their licensing authority. It was suggested taking a photograph with the date / time and send to Wolverhampton as a formal complaint and cc MB ensuring that people do not put themselves at risk. The taxis ranking up are also causing traffic obstructions and are dangerous.

ACTION 3:    MB to share the correct reporting mechanism regarding the illegal                             ranking of vehicles on taxi ranks – The email address is                                               carparking@bury.gov.uk

4.

BDSI

Fiona James the new Bury New Crime Reduction Advisor was due to attend the meeting however has had to send her apologies, BT gave the update.

·         A (GMP led) ARIS funding bid is being drafted to seek funding for a pilot to fund CCTV in a select number of volunteer HCV, PHV and source resource for BDSI material.

·         Review of previously circulated situational crime prevention guidance 

·         Licensing are proposing to work with GMP specialists to develop a virtual training video that will compliment the situational crime prevention guidance. This is subject to the availability of funding and ARIS bid outcome. 

·         Internal vehicle signage and public poster/signage to be developed to promote driver safety and respect. 

·         Any CCTV will require adoption of new council policy with associated governance to ensure systems are compliant with GDPR & ICO requirements (this is complex). 

·         Assurance was provided that CCTV in PHV and HCV will not be mandatory. 

·         Timescales, ARIS bid will need to be approved prior to setting timescales as availability of funding will impact on project delivery. 

There is a real mixture of support regarding CCTV from the drivers, with some strongly for CCTV being mandatory and others very apprehensive and against CCTV being mandatory. The plan is not to make it mandatory but to ensure where CCTV is used, the Council adopts the right policies to ensure CCTV systems are complaint with all relevant legislation.

It was reported that some other Councils (Not Bury) are looking at making it mandatory however this would be very divisive as there are reservations and concerns on the costs and data storage, it is envisaged that the proposed pilot should help alleviate any fears that the trade may have.

DL offered to answer any questions that people may have regarding CCTV and data storage, drivers need to have the right information before they can accept / reject.

5.

Consultation on Policy Changes

At Licensing and Safety Committee on 20 July 2023 members approved an urgent item of business to permit to enable the licencing service to undertake a consultation on a specific number of proposed changes to council policy as outlined in the report before members. 

Cllr. Morris spoke to the group and advised that this consultation is the next iteration on the road to adopting the CMLS, looking at what is best for the operators, drivers and public in Bury by setting a number of principles that are pertinent to them. She also thanked everyone for their ongoing support and engagement.

The consultation cannot deal with any other items of business outside of those approved by the committee. 

The aim of this session is to go through the proposed consultation document and ensure the contents are clear and understood to ensure that trade representatives can encourage and support their members to use this opportunity to provide their views towards proposed changes to council policy.  

It is a public consultation open to all including trade, drivers, vehicle proprietors, operators and the general public.  

The consultation will run on the Councils One Community platform which is used for all consultations.  

The consultation will be accessible by a web link which will be available on the Councils website. The Licensing service will send direct communication to all licensed driver’s and it will be shared with this group for you to disseminate to your members to encourage take up.  

Support is available via the One Community platform as well as the Councils Licensing Engagement Officer who can assist with anyone who has any difficulties in submitting their response.  

The consultation has been designed to be very simple with the detailed proposal and two responses as to whether you agree or disagree with the proposed change. There is a comments box for free text to be added after each response which can be used, would strongly encourage people to provide as much information as possible.

BT went through the document in detail, the key items were:

·         Background

·         Proposals

o   Front Plates / Livery

o   Driving Assessment – Pre-requisites

o   First Aid Kits / Fire Extinguishers

o   Mandatory Door Signs

o   Driving Standards Assessment (DSA)

o   Knowledge Test – Geographical Element

o   RE-application (breaks in licence for any reason)

·         Responding to Proposals

·         Notes

The consultation will run from Monday 7 August – Friday 15 September 2023, the findings will be reviewed and analysed, and a further report is to be submitted to LSC on 19 October 2023.  

If the proposals are supported and then approved by LSC the matter must then be considered by full council, and if approved, they will be implemented, and this will likely be 22 November 2023  

Feedback:

·         There were concerns that the Council was trying to minimise and diminish the responsibility of the associations by not allowing reps to vote on behalf of their memberships.

·         The response rate has not been good in previous consultations therefore it is important to engage all drivers, proprietors, and operators to get a wide selection of views as there are major changes proposed.

·         Will acknowledge the views of the trade representatives as valid as this information can be extracted, assurance was given that trade association views will be taken seriously.

·         Put wallet at the bottom left of the screen, removes obscuring vision and target effect but does not undermine public safety and allows drivers to inter change operators.

·         Change Child Sexual Exploitation to Safeguarding.

·         Remove fire extinguishers and first aid kits.

·         Safety issues were raised regarding the removal of operator stickers.

·         The clear air issue was questioned.

·         It was questioned if a paper format of the consultation should be made available.

·         Registrations numbers are important regarding safety.

·         The role of the sticker is not required due to apps being widely used.

·         Not everyone has the option to book online need to strike a balance and be inclusive.

BT put the designated consultation email address in the chat for people to make any further comments and it is included here licensingconsultation@bury.gov.uk.

6.

Enforcement / Service Issues

Licensing Service Update – Interims back office

It has been identified through the online provision that there is an issue with interims. This is not impacting on the drivers but there has been an error notified by Bradley Fold, and it is when they are trying to book the interims they are getting error messages which would stop reminders going to the drivers. This is being looked at and work is being undertaken on a resolution. Assurance was given that this is not affecting applications being submitted.

7.

Specific Items for Discussion

Mental Health Awareness & Domestic Violence

The Council is currently implementing of a women’s safety charter as part of the Councils wider Women and Girls Safety Strategy which links to the corporate Community Safety Plan.  

As key stakeholders of the nighttime economy the LSC members requested that information be shared with the trade via this group to raise awareness of Mental Health and Domestic Violence to enable your members to have a better understanding of these issues. 

Below are links relating to:

·         SAFENET (DV) https://safenet.org.uk/our-services/bury-services-bury-idva-bury-outreach-bury-refuges/

·         TALK LISTEN & CHANGE (MH &DV)  https://talklistenchange.org.uk/

·         BURY INVOLVEMENT GROUP (MH Awareness)  https://www.buryinvolvementgroup.org/

It was noted that the trade does have partnerships with various safety groups and are fully supportive of social campaigns.

8.

AOB

·         Congratulations to Cllr McGill on becoming Chair of the Licensing Committee.

·         Thank you to Cllr. Morris’s for her input into the meetings.

9.

Date and Time of next meeting

Thurs             12 October    5pm – 7pm              Meeting Room A&B