Agenda item
Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Testing Procedures and Licence Fees
Minutes:
The Committee received a report which detailed a proposed amendment to the current processes for arranging hackney carriage and private hire vehicle tests at the Council’s Main Depot.
The Senior Licensing Practitioner, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) informed the Committee that in order to protect the public, the Council had to be satisfied that hackney carriage and private hire vehicles licensed by the Council were mechanically sound and fit for use. In order to ensure this hackney carriage and private hire vehicles were required to be tested at the Council’s Main Depot before a licence was issued or renewed. Currently the fee payable for a vehicle test, on initial application or renewal, was incorporated within the licence fees charged to applicants for hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licences.
There was an internal recharging process undertaken in order to transfer the appropriate amount from the licensing income budget to the Council’s Main Depot’s income budget.
In order to book a test, the vehicle owner currently had to contact WRS officers who then booked the appointment via on online shared calendar with the Council’s Main Depot.
It was proposed that, under the new process for booking in vehicles for testing at the Council’s Main Depot, appointments would be arranged by Bromsgrove District Council staff at the Council’s Main Depot rather than officers from WRS. Vehicle owners would call the Council’s Main Depot to make payment for the relevant test fee and would then be given an appointment. This direct contact with the Council’s Main Depot would ensure a smoother process and fewer delays for the taxi trade.
Under the current process the existing fees charged covered the cost of one vehicle test. If the vehicle owner failed to keep that appointment and had their vehicle tested at a later date there was no mechanism to cover the additional costs incurred as a result of the initial missed appointment.
It was proposed that under the new arrangements if appointments were missed without giving 48 hours to the Council’s Main Depot, any fee paid for the test would be forfeited and the vehicle owner would have to pay again when re-booking an appointment. This would ensure that the Council did not lose out financially as a result of missed appointments.
If the revised process was approved the current licence fee charged would be reduced to remove the element of the fee that currently covered the cost of the vehicle test, as detailed in paragraphs 3.17 to 3.19 in the report.
The Senior Licensing Practitioner responded to questions from Members with regard to the difference in fees for hackney carriage and private hire vehicle tests and the costs for mid-term tests for vehicles over seven years old.
RESOLVED:
(a) that the amendment to the current process for arranging hackney carriage and private hire vehicle tests at the Council’s Main Depot be approved; and
(b) that the Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services be authorised to advertise the revised licence fees to reflect the proposed new arrangements.
Supporting documents:
PDF 155 KB