Agenda item - Public Involvement

To consider the following matters raised by members of the public:

(a)      Petitions: to receive any petitions presented to the full council or at the meeting itself;

(b)      Written Questions: to receive any questions submitted by the due date of 12 noon on 23 June 2016;

(c)      Deputations: to receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on 23 June 2016

5a        Petitions

5.1       There were none.

5b       Written Questions

5.2       The Chair reported that 1 public question had been received.

5.3       Ms Becky Reynolds asked the following question:

            “The proceedings on the revocation of the licence of the convicted taxi driver veered disastrously off track. Cyclists and pedestrians feel inadequately protected. Will the Committee ensure that complaints about road traffic issues involving taxis e.g. unsafe driving/speeding are received by the Council as well as the Police? Will the council:

(1) revise the ‘Blue Book’ to include exemplary standards of conduct towards other road users;

(2) use powers/influence to stop taxis blocking Advanced Stop Lines; and

(3) introduce outward-facing CCTV (4) develop a dialogue with vulnerable road users about these issues, in addition to receiving the trade-based Taxi Forum view?”

5.4       The Chair gave the following response:

“The Council did everything it could to take this driver off the road, including going to court twice to defend its decision to revoke the drivers licence. The decision to re-instate his licence was taken by the Magistrate’s Court and is not the Council’s decision. The High Court gave us a different interpretation of the law and this is outlined in the report (Agenda item 8).

Ideally the Police should notify us of such issues and do most of the time but we have no power to require them to do so. Unfortunately, the Council were not informed of this offence and only picked up on it through a Council lawyer attending court that day. The Council then took action to revoke the drivers licence. We are largely dependent on intelligence being passed to us from the police and public and have requested information from the police in the future.

The current “Blue Book” has very high standards compared to many local authorities, leading the way in areas such as disabilities, child protection, domestic violence, etc. It sets out clear licensing objectives and standards. It is not clear what further standards in relation to conduct towards other road users could be applied, over and above those already required by a driver under the Road Traffic Acts and the ‘fit and proper test’.  The Council has wide discretion in applying the “fit and proper” test and must judge on a “case by case” basis. It did so in this case and took what it considered appropriate action. As already explained, the Court took a different view.  We would expose ourselves to judicial challenge if the system required more of a driver than is already covered by the Road Traffic Act and the “fit and proper” test.

Such an Infringement - encroaching into the advanced stop line cycle space in front of traffic lights when light is red- is a specific infringement under the Traffic Signs, Regulations and General Directions 2016, and thus is an offence under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. It is primarily a traffic police matter. The Council has no power to deal with the offence. Having said that we deal with issues of road safety at our regular Taxi Forum. Indeed “Advanced Stop Lines” was an agenda item at the last forum and a presentation and guidance was given to drivers by the Road Safety Team.”

5.5       Ms Reynolds then asked the following supplementary question:

“Do you agree that Road Safety and the governance of this area would be improved if you received complaints and adequate information about road traffic issues that affect vulnerable road users e.g. when people report issues to Operation Crackdown, they also send a copy to the Hackney Carriage Office or the Council?”

The current policy does not invite this information, as shown in Item 8, page 11-12 which clearly states:

“Complaints about:

·                     antisocial driving

·                     unsafe driving/speeding

·                     using mobile phones while driving

·                     moving traffic offences

·                     road rage

·                     ignoring traffic signs and signals

Should be reported to Sussex Police via Operation Crackdown.”

5.6       Ms Reynolds stated that the point she was making was that currently there was no requirement that a copy of a report (by the police) about a bad road traffic experience should also be sent to the council. The Council therefore remained ignorant of most of the negative experiences of cyclists and pedestrians, such as taxis pulling into Advanced Stop Line areas or performing other manoeuvres to the detriment of cyclists. It would appear that the channel of information between Sussex Police and the Council required improvement. Information about road traffic incidents involving taxis and vulnerable road users needed to be better collected, shared and acted upon, with a clear remit for improvement, and measurement of outcomes. It was considered that Taxi Forum and the Hackney Carriage Office would benefit from the perspective of cyclists and pedestrians and it would be helpful if membership of the Forum could be extended to include representatives from these groups.

5.6       The Chair gave the following response:

            “Thank you for the points you have raised. I think the Committee has taken on board your comments about the need for better communications regarding road traffic incidents/issues between the police and the council. I am sure that work will be done to progress this. I agree that it is important to gain as detailed a picture as possible of any road safety issues. At the next meeting of the Taxi Forum scheduled to take place on 20 July 2016, the matter will be raised and discussed as to whether it is be possible to have a broader range of road user interests represented.”

5.7       In concluding this item, the Chair confirmed that all that had been said was noted and that the matters raised would also be taken on board when the Blue Book was next updated. It was important to note that regular Taxi Forum meetings took place between Members, Officers and representatives of the trade and any issues/on-going issues were discussed.

5c          Deputations

5.7         There were none.