Agenda item

5.3

Enforcement Review

5.3.1

The Chief Licensing Officer submitted a report containing details of the enforcement activity undertaken by officers of the Taxi Licensing Section with regard to private hire and taxi licensing for the period 1^st November 2011 to 29^th February 2012.  The report contained a description of, and reasoning behind, the enforcement activity undertaken, together with statistical information in terms of vehicle enforcement and driver checks.  The report also contained details of those areas of the City which gave officers concern and set out details in respect of prosecution and cautions in connection with a variety of offences. 

5.3.2

HafeasRehman, Sheffield Taxi Trade Association, commended the Council for the excellent enforcement work undertaken during this period.  He referred to two of the areas of concern set out in the report, indicating that there were always likely to be problems at Rudyard Road as there was no official taxi rank and that the issues on Fulwood Road were mainly as a result of students arriving at and leaving the nightclub within the Halls of Residence.  In respect of the offences listed, two of which related to a failure to carry assistance dogs, he stated that in his opinion, drivers should not be able to refuse to carry assistance dogs on religious grounds. 

5.3.3

Mohammed Yasim, Yorkshire Professional Drivers Association, stated that he would also like to commend the Council for the excellent enforcement work undertaken.  He indicated that it was only a small minority of drivers who caused problems and that he would continue to work closely with the Council in an attempt to keep the number of driver incidents to a minimum.  He expressed specific concerns regarding the carrying of assistance dogs and stated that, whilst drivers should not refuse to carry such dogs, he believed that operators should warn drivers at the time of booking the job if customers had a dog on the basis that it would assist the driver and stop any potential upset for customers.  He also made reference to the issues on Rudyard Road, indicating that due to the increase in double yellow lines and other road markings, drivers were finding it difficult to park in the area.

5.3.4

In response to questions from Members of the Committee and the representatives from the Taxi Trade Associations, Clive Stephenson stated that there was no legal requirement on taxi companies to inform drivers, when booking jobs, that customers had assistance dogs, as drivers were legally bound to pick such customers up.  Also, if drivers knew that a customer had a dog with them, they may choose not to take that job and there was a potential for the fare to remain live for some time.  In the light of the increase in licensed premises in the City Centre, and the consequent increase in demand for taxis, officers were working closely with the trades and improving links with the licensed premises.  Officers had looked at changing the location of the taxi rank on Carver Street and were aware of the ranking problems on Castle Street.  He stressed that there was a need for more consideration to be given to the movement and ranking of taxis when premises licences were granted for new premises in the City Centre.  In terms of the statistics regarding vehicle enforcement, he stated that, although the figures in terms of vehicle defects appeared high, there had been a reduction in the number of defects over the last four to five years.  He also stated that officers had a long checklist, which increased the potential for there to be faults with vehicles.

5.3.5

Mohammed Yasim stated that, whilst it was the responsibility of drivers to check their vehicles, they could not be expected to know about every single fault as it may not be obvious or visible and that this was the reason why the figures appeared high.  Hafeas Rehman added that the quality of Sheffield’s taxis, in general, was very good in comparison to those in other areas of the country and stated that whilst it was not acceptable for a driver to have faults with their cars, the most important thing was that the faults were rectified at the earliest possible opportunity.

5.3.6

RESOLVED: That members of the public be excluded from the meeting before further discussion takes place on the grounds that, in view of the nature of the business be transacted, if those persons were present, there would be a disclosure to them of exempt information described in paragraph 5 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

5.3.7

The Solicitor to the Committee reported orally, giving legal advice on various aspects of the report.

5.3.8

At this stage in the proceedings, the meeting was re-opened to members of the public.

5.3.9

RESOLVED: That the Committee:-

(a)       notes the contents of the report now submitted;

(b)       welcomes the partnership working between officers in the Taxi Licensing Section and the Taxi Trades Associations regarding the enforcement work undertaken in connection with the improvement in the quality of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles, as exemplified by the improvements as set out in the report; and

(c)        requests that information on proposed or enforcement action undertaken in respect of complaints of nuisance, including taxis parking on cycle lanes and other similar issues, be included as part of reports on enforcement activity submitted to future meetings of the Committee.