CITY OF YORK COUNCIL – TAXI LICENSING
MINUTES OF MEETING WITH YORK HACKNEY CARRIAGE ASSOCIATIONS
Independent Taxi Association (ITA)
York Taxi Association (YTA)
30TH JANUARY 2014
PRESENT: Lesley Cooke – Licensing Manager CYC (LC)
Angela Ruane – Taxi Licensing Officer CYC (AR)
Nigel Woodhead – Licensing Enforcement Officer CYC (NW)
Allan Davies – Chairman ITA (AD)
Bill Brolly – Secretary ITA (BB)
Keith Hatfield – Chairman YTA (KH)
Jim Kerr – Unite Union York Taxi Section (JK)
1)
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Nil.
2)
YORK RACECOURSE
LC gave an update on the works taking place at the racecourse which should
be complete by the first race meeting in May. The works are being done in
two phases with the second phase commencing at the end of the race
season. The first phase could have an impact on private hire pick up points
which will probably have to move further down Knavesmire Road and there
will be no waiting allowed by any vehicles. The problems caused by limos
and out of town vehicles are also being looked at regarding stopping and
waiting on the road.
At a de-brief meeting held at the racecourse, the residents of South Bank had
complained about the number of taxis using their streets as a rat run.
Consensus of opinion was that these are public roads and therefore can be
used by anyone.
LC also asked for opinions on a taxi marshal for the rank at the racecourse,
especially at Saturday meetings. All agreed that it worked well the last time a
marshal was used and the consensus was to give it a go. JK will speak with
Jim Slater who he knows and taxi licensing will speak with Geoff Ward, one
of the senior city door staff.
1
3)
McDONALDS
LC gave an overview of the situation regarding McDonalds on Blake Street.
This is now a residential area and there are a lot of complaints regarding
noise etc. in the street. The residents would like taxis not to stop and pick up
outside McDonalds as doors are slammed and engines revved etc. We
would like to help the residents and it has been suggested that private hire
have a dedicated pick up point on Lendal outside the post office and on
Davygate where the flower stall is located during the day. McDonalds will
advertise the private hire pick up points inside the restaurant as well as
informing their door staff. All present thought this was a good idea. It was
also suggested that Blake Street becomes a „no stopping‟ zone which would
then apply to all vehicles, both hackney and private hire. LC will look further
into this.
4)
HACKNEY CARRIAGE UNMET DEMAND SURVEY
LC informed the meeting that we will be carrying out an unmet demand
survey in respect of hackney carriage vehicles in the near future at the
request of the licensing committee.
BB asked if it could be done at a busy time and not when it is quiet. KH said
that the surveyors do not take into account loading times (for wheelchair
passengers and luggage) and that they should consult with Station Taxis as it
was a totally different rank in terms of usage to those in the city centre.
5)
DUNCOMBE PLACE RANK
LC states that she has spoken to traffic management regarding new signage
in light of complaints about members of the public queuing at the wrong
location at the Duncombe Place rank. BB also said that he has a petition
about the number of times the rank is closed for events. LC responded that
any event using Duncombe Place would necessitate closure of the road and
the rank due to health and safety. LC also mentioned the fact that on New
Year‟s Eve last year some drivers took it on themselves to move the crowd
barriers early so that they could service the rank and the drivers then
threatened council workers who wanted the barriers put back in place.
Unfortunately no plate numbers were taken. Both Associations thought this
behaviour was totally out of order and it was a pity that plate numbers were
not taken.
6)
LAW COMMISSION
LC gave an update on the Law Commission report which is now due out in
the spring. As yet we have no details of what it will include.
2
7)
ST SAVIOURGATE RANK
NW gave an update on the present situation regarding the rank. It had been
decided by officers from traffic management without the knowledge of taxi
licensing staff that St Saviourgate taxi rank would be temporarily closed from
7.00am to 7.00pm for eleven weeks commencing on 3rd March whilst the
second phase of work at King‟s Square was carried out. The rank would then
become a loading bay during these times to allow delivery vehicles to park
and deliver goods to local businesses. Talks between taxi licensing, the
trade and traffic management have taken place and a temporary rank for six
vehicles is to be set up at the bus stop outside Marks and Spencer on
Pavement. The park and ride bus stop will be moved further down The
Stonebow. The rank closure will be monitored and could be for a shorter
timescale. Signage will be in place to inform members of the public of the
changes. It was reiterated that this has nothing to do with taxi licensing and
any complaints/comments etc. should be forwarded to traffic management.
8)
HC FARE INCREASE
AD outlined his proposals for this year‟s fare rise. 10p increment on flag fall
with no change to the flag fall for the race tariff. Tariffs 4 and 5 to remain the
same and also the bank holiday rate. Extra passengers to be raised from
30p to 40p.
AD & BB stated that multi seater vehicles are losing out and help is needed
to address the situation. They would like fare and a half for multi seater
vehicles carrying 5+ passengers. It was agreed that the Associations would
discuss this issue and AD would submit the results in due course.
9)
ENFORCEMENT UPDATE
NW stated that, apart from the usual complaints, one hackney carriage driver
has had his licence revoked due to a court conviction and two private hire
drivers had been suspended for alleged serious offences. Neither of the
private hire drivers renewed their licences last October but one has now
made an application for a private hire driver‟s licence. We are also aware of
complaints, mainly from the hackney trade, regarding the use of the word
“taxi” by private hire operators on their advertising. However, there is no
legislation that states operators cannot do this as long as the word is not
used on vehicles. Covert observations have been carried out on Blake Street
regarding the use of this street by private hire vehicles and enquiries are
ongoing.
NW also discussed York Cars using a Middlesbrough hackney carriage driver
and vehicle to do private hire work in York. NW advised that any
enforcement of this driver and vehicle can only be done by Middlesbrough
taxi licensing and he is in weekly contact with them. The Middlesbrough
3
driver is not breaking any laws by working in York through a private hire
company with his hackney carriage vehicle but he must comply with his own
licensing authority‟s regulations whilst he does so.
NW discussed the amount of Penalty Charge Notices (PCN) that have been
issued to both hackney carriage and private hire vehicles driving over Lendal
Bridge and along Coppergate. It was confirmed that taxi licensing sent a list
of all vehicle registration numbers to traffic management before the schemes
commenced.
Any proprietor changing his vehicle must inform traffic
management of the new registration number and taxi licensing do give out
information on how to do this.
10) TOUR DE FRANCE
LC gave an update on the Tour regarding the route, road closures and
perceived problems regarding getting around the city on the weekend of
5th/6th July. The trade will be kept fully informed with updates as and when
we get them.
11) ANY OTHER BUSINESS
BB asked if there is any funding for in-car CCTV as several drivers have
recently been assaulted and had runners etc. NW stated that this was the
first he had heard of any recent incidents and asked that drivers report all
incidents to the police who will give them a log number and also report
incidents to the taxi licensing office so that we are aware of what is
happening. Due to current monetary constraints the council does not have
any funding available and any monies would have to come from an outside
source.
KH asked for clarification on in-car advertising (via TV screens). Four
vehicles at Station Taxis now have these fitted and a further four would have
the screens fitted soon. All the adverts are the same in each vehicle so taxi
licensing will need to see one vehicle to agree the advertising. Any future
changes would all take place at the same so again only one vehicle would
need to be seen each time.
JK asked if it would be possible for the night time traffic lights to be turned off
or the sequences changed. Problems occur when traffic lights change for no
reason other than they are on a sequence and drivers get pressurised by
drunken customers to jump red lights etc. Passengers can get quite verbally
abusive. NW will contact traffic management.
JK also asked what the restrictions are on A Boards as they are a problem
within the Swinegate area. LC stated that there is no longer any city centre
enforcement and the restrictions on A boards has been relaxed.
4
NW gave an update on the new knowledge test procedure. As from 1st
January this year all new applicants will be allowed to take the knowledge
test five times. If they fail the fifth knowledge test they must then wait three
months before taking the sixth and final knowledge test. If the applicant fails
the sixth knowledge test, the application will be refused. This procedure has
been introduced because many new applicants have been taking numerous
knowledge tests with little preparation resulting in their applications being
significantly delayed and causing office staff more work etc.
LC gave an update on the new computer system for taxi licensing which will
allow for new plastic badges to be issued instead of the old laminated
version. At this stage it was still to be decided if we are going to produce our
own vehicle plates as we are short of space and storage facilities within the
new office.
NW gave an update on the up coming city centre road works, especially the
road closures around Kings Square which will be for a period of
approximately 11 weeks commencing on 3rd March.
12) DATE OF NEXT MEETING
2.00pm on Wednesday 9th April 2014 at Hazel Court.
5