Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Filmer, Howcroft-Scott, Peake and Sands.  

To approve the record of the meeting held on 10 December 2024.

The record of the meeting held on 10 December 2024 was agreed and signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none.  

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

There were none.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

The purpose of this report is to present the responses to the consultation for the Hackney Carriage Tariff Review Policy.

Discussion:

The Assistant Licensing Manager summarised the consultation process that had been undertaken and the responses that had been received from taxi drivers and the Medway Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (MLTDA).

Mr Jackson was invited to address the Committee as Chairperson of MLTDA. The Committee were informed that MLTDA’s view was that a mechanism for drivers to be able to request annual reviews of the taxi tariff was necessary rather than bi-annual reviews due to financial pressures. Mr Jackson also stated that it would be possible to add an inflationary uplift to the tariff and the report had been misleading stating that this would not be possible.

Officers explained the onerous process involved in reviewing tariffs annually and that this would impact on service delivery in other areas.

Members and officers discussed how engagement with taxi drivers could be improved and what other Local Authorities do with regards to annual and bi-annual reviews. Officers informed the Committee that it was not impossible to apply inflationary increases but was impractical to do so.

Mr Jackson informed the Committee that he was concerned that the Policy differed from the initial discussions he had with the Licensing Team and it was important to ensure it was fit for purpose and enabled taxi drivers to earn minimum wage.

Officers explained the complexities of consulting on a combination of tariffs and informed the Committee that any consultation undertaken needed to be kept simple to enable it to be responded to and evaluated effectively.

Members discussed deferring a decision on the Policy so that officers could engage further with taxi drivers and MLTDA to ensure that the Policy and processes that supported it were clear to all parties.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to defer a decision on the Hackney Carriage Tariff Review Policy until a later date and requested that further engagement takes place with the MLTDA and taxi drivers in Medway.