Agenda and draft minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 16 March 2022 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as an accurate record.

No declarations of interest were received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Sub-Committee held on 14 April 2022 be confirmed.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Sub-Committee held on 9 June 2022 be confirmed.

Tom Charlesworth, Licensing Officer:

a)    presented a report to the Licensing Committee for consideration of two options from Hackney carriage proprietors, to increase the fares for Hackney Carriages in Lincoln

b)    explained the background to the report covering the main following points:

·         Highlighted that the last fare increase took place in March 2019 and the current tariff was shown at Appendix A to the report entitled ‘Hackney Carriage Table of Maximum Fares’.

·         Explained that under option 1, submitted by Simon Hearn, Hackney Carriage Proprietor, there would be the same number of rates as the current tariff i.e, 4 rates but sought a fare increase to both rate 1 and rate 2.  If agreed by the Council, rate 3 and rate 4 would also change as rate 3 was charged at rate 1 plus 100% and rate 4 was charged at rate 2 plus 100%.

·         Highlighted that under option 2, submitted by Sultan Mohamadi, Hackney Carriage Proprietor, the option was for a tariff that contained 5 rates. The significant difference from the current tariff was the inclusion of an extra ‘night’ rate (daily from 9pm to 6am) for when there were more than 4 passengers in the vehicle. This formed part of the newly proposed rate 3.

·         Stated that all hackney carriage proprietors and drivers were consulted and were asked if they had a preference between the two options, or if the current tariff should instead, remain in operation. 

·         Added that option 1 received the least votes. Of those consulted, 21 were in favour of option 2, 10 were in favour of option 1, 1 was in favour of the current tariff remaining in operation and there were 4 abstentions.

c)    welcomed comments and questions from the Committee

As a result of discussion between members, officers and guest speakers, the following points were made: -

·         Confirmation was sought that there was an intention to add a fuel surcharge and it was confirmed that a fuel surcharge would be applicable.

·         It was confirmed that there was difficulty in drawing comparisons between Hackney Carriage fares and private hire charges due the majority of private hire operators using a zonal system for their charges, as opposed to operating meters..

·         Comments were received that the fuel surcharge was in place to protect proprietors, and suggestions were received to consider the charge as a cost-of-living exercise.

·         Members asked about the proposed increased in soilage charge under option 2. Members sought clarification on the reason why option 2 sought to increase the charge from £50 to £65 and it was confirmed that the soilage charge would be a maximum amount, not a minimum amount.

·         It was noted that the night-time economy accounted for a large proportion of Hackney Carriage business and that a fare  could not be refused without a reasonable excuse.

·         Proprietors explained that the cost of living, vehicle maintenance, fuel and wear and tear items had increased significantly. In addition, the requirement for electric vehicles was increasing and therefore, costs had risen significantly since  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.