Agenda item

The Licensing Officer introduced the report which asked the Committee to consider authorising a full review of the procedure used by the Council to calculate and set a table of maximum fares chargeable by Hackney carriages in the district, with a view to introducing a new fare setting procedure for 2025 based upon a methodology produced by Guildford Borough Council.

If a review of the fare setting procedure is agreed, the Licensing & Enforcement Committee is asked to consider authorising a detailed consultation with the taxi trade to ascertain average figures for the cost of running a taxi in East Devon.

It was noted that the current Hackney carriage fare table, at Appendix A of the report, came into effect on 18^th June 2024, as it had been agreed that a fare increase was needed at that time.  This increase had been calculated by increasing the table of maximum fares in line with inflation, fare comparison, trade consultation and trade costs.  While this had offered an appropriate way of calculating fares, it was felt that it may now be an appropriate time to consider putting into place a clear and transparent written procedure.  It was further noted that the Guildford Borough Council method had been tested at Judicial Review.

The Licensing Officer thanked Guildford Borough Council for their assistance.

The Licensing Officer highlighted the following points:

·        Running costs in East Devon are likely to vary substantially from those in Guildford,

·        A detailed consultation would need to be held with the taxi trade as proprietors are best placed to understand the costs involved and it would be difficult to proceed with a review without detailed input from the taxi trade,

·        An online survey would be set up as part of the consultation, with a draft survey attached at Appendix B of the report,

·        Officers would look to provide draft estimated figures for each cost together with an explanation of how costs had been calculated,

·        If agreed, the consultation would be publicised as widely as possible using a variety of different methods including emails to all in the East Devon taxi trade and a taxi liaison meeting at Blackdown House,

·        Following the consultation, a report would be brought to the 2 April 2025 Committee setting out a draft Hackney carriage fare setting procedure, a fare calculator populated with estimated costs and a draft revised Hackney carriage fare tariff table informed by the fare calculator,

The Chair thanked the Licensing Officer for their report and noted that this was an extensive piece of work for Officers.

Discussion and responses to questions from the Committee included the following points:

·        It was acknowledged that there are differences between urban and rural areas in East Devon, however, it would not be possible to provide any separation as part of a fare setting procedure and average figures would have to be used.  It was essential that the taxi trade participated fully in any review in order to obtain detailed figures to accurately calculate average costs,

·        Regarding concerns as to the levels of participation from the taxi trade, a taxi liaison meeting would be held at Blackdown House to encourage participation.  Officers would provide feedback to the Committee on the level of participation,

·        The review, if agreed, would require a large amount of staff time which would be resourced from within the Licensing team.  Analysis of the consultation data would take time and it was anticipated that the results would not be ready until the April 2025 Committee meeting, with a view to either commencing any changes to the fare tariff, if agreed, from May 2025; or carrying out further trade consultation, if considered necessary,

·        Regarding the differences between urban and rural areas in East Devon, Officers were of the view that the Guildford Method was appropriate as a framework, as all costs applicable to the District could be input.  Feedback on costs such as dead mileage would be needed from the taxi trade,

·        All taxi drivers would be sent an email to encourage participation if the consultation was agreed,

·        The taxi trade would be assured that all information collected would be anonymised.

RESOLVED

1.     That the Licensing & Enforcement Committee authorised a review of the procedure used to calculate Hackney carriage fares in the district, based upon the methodology and fare setting calculator developed by Guildford Borough Council and adjusted for local considerations.

2.     That the Licensing & Enforcement Committee authorised the launch of a consultation with the East Devon taxi trade to ask all Hackney carriage drivers and proprietors to participate in the setting of suitable average figures for the cost of running a taxi in the district.

3.     That the length of the consultation would be 10 weeks.

In response to a question, the Licensing Manager advised that it would not be possible to undertake a review based on the Guildford Method and consider an interim fare rise using existing methodology at the same time due to pressure on Officer capacity.

The Chair reminded the Committee that, although introducing the Guildford Method was a very large piece of work, doing so would remove the need to consider fare increases on an ad hoc and interim basis as accurate figures would be available going forward which could be considered in line with the schedule of Committee meetings.