The Committee considered the submitted report which set out proposed changes to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy 2016, following a full review of the Policy.  Members went through the Policy page by page and suggested a number of changes.

Resolved:

That the proposed alterations to the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy as highlighted in Appendix 1, subject to the changes set out below, to the submitted report be approved to be released for full public consultation for a period of eight weeks:

(i)         paragraph 2.7 - Driver appearance to be referenced to ‘as per Appendix I’ and Driver Conduct to be referenced to ‘as per Appendix B’;

(ii)        to also consult with the Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Service on the Policy;

(iii)       paragraph 5.12 to be reworded to make it clear that they are required to pass the DSA test;

(iv)       paragraph 5.17 to be highlighted with the Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Service;

(v)        paragraph 5.26 to be reworded to read ‘... signed letter from their GP and/or other relevant medical specialist who has access to medical records’ and delete the rest of the wording to make it consistent with the previous paragraph;

(vi)       paragraph 14.24 to be amended to read 9 years instead of 10 years;

(vii)      Appendix D - livery policy to be the second option only with the vehicle being white and the wrap for private hire being red and the wrap for the hackney carriage being blue;

(viii)     additional paragraph at 14.49 to clarify the requirements for the livery policy and what happens if they do not comply;

(ix)       Appendix B - Code of Conduct paragraph 1b to be reworded ‘to maintain a high standard of personal hygiene’ with the rest of the paragraph referring to the dress code at Appendix I and move the Code of Conduct and Dress Code Appendices to run concurrently;

(x)        Page 57, paragraph 3 to read ‘Torbay Council Licenced....’ this to also apply to private hire vehicles;

(xi)       Page 63 - carrying of animals to be reworded to include ‘owned or cared for’;

(xii)      Page 65, Fire extinguishers to include ‘suitable and compliant’; and

(xiii)     Page 82, Appendix K include an introduction to make it clear that where the driver choses installs CCTV they shall follow these guidelines.