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 18 June 2021;

(c) Deputations: to receive any deputations submitted by the due date of 12 noon on 18 June 2021 (copy attached)

Two Deputations were considered in respect of:

(a) Pedicabs proposals; and

(b) Current state of the taxi trade in the city due to non-licensed vehicles working in the city.

RESOLVED – Both Deputations were received and noted.

5(a)    Petitions

5.1      There were none.

5(b)    Written Questions

5.2      There were none.

5(c)    Deputations

5.3      It was noted that two Deputations had been received.

          Pedicabs Proposal

5.4      Mr Bernstein was invited to speak in support of his Deputation which had been circulated with the agenda and is also set out below:

5.5      The Chair, Councillor Deane responded in the following terms:

”Unfortunately, there are some barriers to your proposed scheme from a licensing perspective. Outside London, pedicabs are classified as Hackney Carriages, they can therefore be licensed and can ply-for-hire (i.e. be available to passengers for immediate hire). This decision was made by the Court of Appeal in the case of R v Cambridge City Council ex parte Lane (1999). The decision in this case was that pedicabs fall under the definition of a Hackney Carriage under the”Town Police Clauses Act 1847”and, as such, must be licensed as Hackney Carriages. Fares are charged at a flat rate regardless of how many passengers are carried.

The consequence of pedicabs being classified as Hackney Carriages outside London is that there are many difficulties in transposing hackney carriage regulations in order that they may apply equally to pedicabs.

In Brighton & Hove we have a managed growth policy for issuing hackney carriage vehicle plates (5 per year) and there is a significant waiting list for these plates. The vehicle would also need to meet the required standards at the time and be able to go anywhere in the City as requested and could not legally refuse except for the normal reasons. The driver must also be a licensed hackney carriage driver. The council’s current Taxi policy does not allow for the issuing of licenses to rickshaws or novelty vehicles. It is recommended therefore that the Deputation is noted and received.”

5.6      RESOLVED – That the contents of the petition be noted and received.

          Brighton and Hove Licensed Taxi Trade

5.7      Mr Peters was invited to speak in support of his Deputation which was circulated as an addendum and is also set out below:

5.8      The Chair, Councillor Deane responded in the following terms:

“We are unclear about the reference to a “total loss of licensing control”. A properly licenced Private hire vehicle and driver can work anywhere in the country, providing the vehicle, driver and operator (taking booking) are all licensed by the same authority.

A Hackney Carriage vehicle can only ply for hire in the district they are licenced, outside the district they are not permitted to ply for hire and must be booked, A Hackney Carriage vehicle can act as their own operator.

As such, checks will have been carried out to ensure that the driver/operator are Fit and proper and the vehicle is safe.

We understand and share frustration of out-of-town vehicles operating in the City but this is not new as legislation allows for properly licensed vehicles to operate anywhere in the country.

We can and do control our own licensed vehicles and we have good working relationships and joint working agreements with neighbouring authorities regarding their vehicles working in the city. We can also take action against any vehicles (out of town or our own) if statutory offences are being committed but if it relates another authorities’ conditions then we would rely on joint working/enforcement.

We do investigate reports of offences with regard to out-of-town vehicles, but we do need evidence and unfortunately, we receive a considerable amount of 3^rd hand information which lack the evidence that we require to fully investigate in a timely fashion. We do follow up those individual cases and have stopped and spoken to out-of-town vehicles but found no identifiable offences.

Previous investigations have not demonstrated an actionable offence and concluded that vehicles identified to us were either legally dropping off or picking up or using their vehicle for personal means.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the TfL drivers have lost a large proportion of their work during the pandemic and many have turned to delivering for companies like Uber eats.

We will investigate cases where there is sufficient evidence.

With regard to restricting bus lanes to out-of-town taxis, Traffic management have stated that a review of all traffic orders is required and currently it is not a priority in the city due to the pressure across the service.  In terms of delays from a network management point of view they have little to no impact on the road network as the volume is relatively low.  We also consider the impact on disabilities and mobility issues accessing the city from surrounding areas. This would increase delays and cost to those individuals. Additional matters raised would be responded to outside of the meeting and specific incidents raised would be investigated further. It is recommended therefore that the Deputation be noted and received.

5.9      There was discussion regarding whether a further report should be submitted to Committee providing an update on the issues outlined. Members considered that all valid complaints received should be investigated and that the issues identified be kept under review. Updates could be included in Chair’s Communications Members and a report for consideration at a future Committee if the abuses identified continued.

5.9      RESOLVED – that the Deputation be noted and received, that the matters referred to be kept under review and as/if appropriate form the subject of a report to a future Committee meeting.