To consider the report.

Greg Nelson, Trading Standards & Licensing Manager, introduced the report. The Panel were being asked to make a decision on each of the options for change set out in the report in Tables 3 to 8.

The Chairman invited Mr Munir and Mr Yasin to address the Panel:

Mr Mohammad Munir had been a hackney carriage driver for twelve years. Mr Munir informed the Panel that the hackney carriage drivers needed a pay rise, they were doing more hours and the tariffs did not reflect the hours. The vehicles were more expensive to run, the fuel prices had increased and the fuel consumption was more. Mr Munir suggested increasing the £2.80 tariff to have a minimum payment of £5.00.

Mr Yasin addressed the Panel. Mr Yasin had been a HC driver for over twenty years and was of the thought that by putting up the fares, customers would go elsewhere, to private hire firms or Uber. Mr Yasin suggested just increasing the additional passenger fare from 20p to 40p per passenger.

Councillor Davey clarified with the Licensing Officer that legally, the meter should be put on when carrying out journeys within the borough. If the journey was going out of the borough then a fare could be agreed before the journey or the meter could be used. This was confirmed by the Licensing Officer.

Councillor Baldwin asked about the capping of HC vehicles. Greg Nelson informed the Panel that the Licensing Panel decided to remove the cap in 2012, not under any new legislation. Greg Nelson was aware that there was not enough ranking space at popular sites. At busy times, more vehicles ranked at the hotspots such as stations.

The Panel agreed that whatever decision was taken had to be fair for the residents and the HC drivers. The Panel also agreed, by looking at the fare figures in the report, that RBWM were at the lower end of the scale compared to neighbouring boroughs. Other points considered by the Panel included larger vehicles could be used for wheelchairs, that there were no minimum or maximum number of hours that drivers could work and the increased fuel prices.

Members were firstly being asked:

Members are asked to consider the options set out in Table 3, relating to the RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff:

Councillor Davey proposed that the current RBWM Hackney Carriage tariff be increased. This was seconded by Councillor Bond.

A named vote was carried out.

RESOLVED: The current RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff be Increase.

The Chairman then asked the Panel to consider how much the tariff should be increased by, Table 3.

After a short discussion, Councillor Taylor proposed that a 10% increase would encourage passengers to share taxis, taking the climate emergency into consideration. This was seconded by Councillor Davey.

A named vote was carried out.

RESOLVED: That the current RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff be increased by 10%.

The Chairman then asked the Panel to consider the charges relating to carrying larger number of passengers, Table 4.

Councillor Clark proposed that Change the RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff to remove;

“Extra Passengers: for Each Person Carried Above the Number of Two for the Whole or Part of the Distance – 20p” and under “Extra Charges” insert; “Over three passengers, £1.00”, for a twelve-month trial.

This was seconded by Councillor Taylor.

A named vote was carried out.

RESOLVED: That the current RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff to remove;

“Extra Passengers: for Each Person Carried Above the Number of Two for the Whole or Part of the Distance – 20p” and under “Extra Charges” insert; “Over three passengers, £1.00”, for a twelve-month trial.

Councillor Taylor proposed all three of the Officers recommendations in Tables 5, 6 and 7 to make it clearer and easier for residents; they as below:

The RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff be amended to include the statement;

“No extra charges will be incurred for payment by debit or credit card”

The RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff be amended to include the statement;

“The driver MUST use the meter for all journeys within the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. If the journey ends outside the Borough the meter must be used unless a set fare is agreed at the START of your journey”

The tariff be amended to include the following contact details for the Licensing team;

e-mail – licensing@rbwm.gov.uk, phone – 01628 683840

This was seconded by Councillor Baldwin.

The Panel Unanimously Agreed.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the changes above be made to the tariff card.

The Chairman invited Mr Jaffri to address the Panel.

Mr Jaffri spoke in support of the increase in fees.

Councillor Clark proposed the Officers recommendation in Table 8, that would ensure that both the driver and the passenger were fully aware of the tariff, the following penalty point infringement be added to the RBWM Hackney Carriage Driver and Vehicle Policy and Conditions;

“Without reasonable cause, failure to display the RBWM Hackney Carriage Tariff inside a hackney carriage so that it is clearly visible to passengers” and It is further recommended that six penalty points be imposed for this infringement

This was seconded by Councillor Taylor.

The Panel Unanimously Agreed.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the changes above be made to the tariff card and delegated to the Officers to issue two A4 laminated cards if no real issues were identified.

Greg Nelson informed the Panel that a 28-day consultation period would take place with drivers before any actions were taken forward.