Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Dobbs, Thacker and Khan.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held 16 June 2009 were approved as an accurate and true record.

The Committee received a report which revisited its decision of the 10 March 2009. It had previously been agreed that the completion of a NVQ / VRQ qualification would become mandatory for all new and existing hackney carriage and private hire drivers. It had also been agreed that new compulsory standardised and permanently affixed door stickers would be applied to the rear passenger doors of all private hire vehicles. The stickers would read “Private Hire Vehicle – Insurance Invalid Unless Pre-Booked with Operator”. An amendment of Condition 2(c) of the Private Hire Conditions in relation to the implementation of the door stickers had also previously been agreed by the Committee. Vehicles solely used for corporate or airport work would perhaps be eligible for an exemption from the requirement to display the door signage.

Members were advised that NVQ / VRQ training providers had found it increasingly difficult to obtain funding in order to allow courses to run. As a consequence of this, the cost of the course would have to be independently funded by the drivers. It had also been evident that there were variations in content and delivery of the NVQ and VRQ between the different providers. As a result of the inconsistencies and funding difficulties it was recommended that the requirement for mandatory NVQ / VRQ training was withdrawn.

The requirement for a mandatory condition relating to door signs continued to remain valid. The implementation of the door signage would ensure consistency and uniformity. It was accepted that some private hire vehicles were solely used for airport or executive purposes. This had been highlighted during the initial consultation, where some companies had stated that the display of signage could affect this aspect of their business. It was therefore acknowledged that it may be appropriate to offer an exemption to certain individually identified vehicles, on the proviso that assurances were made that the vehicle would not be used for normal private hire work.

Members were invited to comment on the report and the following issues were highlighted:

·         Members expressed concern regarding the removal of the requirement to undergo NVQ / VRQ training. Could alternate training be provided for free, particularly in relation to dealing with disable passengers? Members were advised that this request would be looked into. Members were further advised that a video was shown to all hackney carriage drivers which detailed how to load and unload a passenger in a wheelchair.

·         Members queried why some private hire vehicles displayed no signage at all. Members were informed that there were no points under legislation which stated that signage had to be displayed. A benchmarking exercise which had been undertaken against other authorities had shown that a number of them required permanent door signage and a number of them were also looking to amend their conditions to state that permanent signage was required.

RESOLVED:

1.      to revoke the 10 March 2009 decision concerning the mandatory completion of the NVQ / VRQ qualifications and remove the specification criteria

2.      to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.