Agenda item

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager introduced his report and outlined that the key purpose of the hackney carriage and private hire licensing regimes was to ensure public safety. He said that the proposed policy to mandate card payment facilities in all licensed vehicles would help ensure that people would be able to pay for a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle and get home safely. He therefore asked that the members of the Licensing Committee scrutinise the consultation responses and the draft Policy.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that the East Herts licensed trade were surveyed regarding the use of card payment facilities in March 2023. He said that 97 responses were received and 95% of the respondents already operated card payment facilities. He drew Members’ attention to the survey results contained in Appendix A of the report.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that the licensed trade were formally consulted in May 2023 regarding the Policy to mandate the provision of card payment facilities.  He said that the consultation document included the proposed wording for the Policy and a link to an online survey to respond. He said that when the survey closed on 31 May 2023, 34 responses had been received, and drew Members’ attention to the consultation wording and responses at Appendix B of the report.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that several possible issues with the Policy were raised in the responses, and these are addressed at paragraph 3.6 of the report. He said that in addition to the online survey responses, 2 licensed drivers sent in additional emails which raised the four points shown at paragraph 3.9 of the report. He drew Members’ attention to these emails which could be seen in Appendix C of the report and raised similar issues to those addressed in paragraph 3.6.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that overall, 76% of the responses to the formal consultation were supportive of the Policy and that 94% already had card facilities. He said that this was a very similar figure to that found through the informal survey.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager advised Members that the final proposed wording for the policy was amended following the consultation, and that this could be found at Appendix D of the report. He said that where the Policy, if implemented, would require changes to other parts of the existing Policies this was also highlighted in Appendix D. He said that the Licensing Committee’s comments will be passed to the Executive Member for Planning and Growth for her consideration prior to a report going to the Executive.

Councillor Marlow said that he was generally in favour of the policy, and asked if it could be legislated that fares could still be paid in cash should a passenger wish.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that this was possible.

Councillor Willcocks asked if a working card payment machine would be included in a taxi vehicle check.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that should the policy be agreed, a working card payment machine would be included in a taxi vehicle check. He said that there would be a three-month period to enable vehicles to have a card payment machine installed, and that this would then be an item to be checked in accordance with the vehicle’s inspection cycle.

Councillor Townsend said that it was good that both cash and other means of fare payment would be accepted. He asked for clarification on the process for faults and failures with a vehicle’s card payment machine, and how long would be given for drivers to resolve such issues.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that there was originally expectation for such faults to be repaired/replaced within 72 hours, but this had since been amended to one week in line with neighbouring Councils’ Policies. He said that if there was no resolution to the issue within that period then the reasons for this would be looked at. And that any action taken by the Licensing Team would be based on the individual circumstances of the case.  

Councillor Wyllie asked if the report’s recommendation should also include wording to allow cash as a method of fare payment.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that this comment could be passed to the Executive Member for Planning and Growth, but that the policy was not advocating a move away from allowing fares to be paid by cash.

Councillor Townsend said that the policy was well thought through and asked for the time frame for its implementation.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said 94% - 95% of the trade already had card payment machines, and that therefore 3 months was a suitable and reasonable amount of time for those who did not have this facility to comply.

Councillor Dunlop asked who would report any card payment facilities faults or failures.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that the vehicle owner would be required to report such faults or failures and repair them in the given timeframe. He said that any related complaints from the public would be investigated by the Licensing Team. He drew Members’ attention to Appendix D of the report which gave the final proposed Policy wording and detailed changes to the Licensing Record Points scheme.

Councillor Dunlop asked if the Licensing Department had the resources to deal with any complaints regarding card payment facilities.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that as 94% - 95% of vehicles already had card payment facilities he was not expecting a large number of complaints. He said that to date, the Licensing Department had received no complaints regarding taxis which did not have card payment facilities.

Councillor Marlow asked if taxis which had faulty card machines should put signs up to advise passengers.

The Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager said that this was not part of the policy, and that it would be expected that the driver would make passengers aware as they would want to get paid. He said that should this be included in the policy the type of sign, its wording, size and  placement would have to be stipulated.  

The Chairman thanked the Licensing and Enforcement Service Manager for his report.

It was proposed by Councillor Marlow and seconded by Councillor Willcocks that the recommendations, as detailed, be approved. After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED - That Members review and provide comments to the Executive Member for Planning and Growth on the proposal to introduce a requirement to provide card payment facilities in all vehicles licensed by East Herts to inform the Executive’s consideration of any recommendation to Council for approval.