81 Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Plates PDF 206 KB
Report of the Chief Executive
Minutes:
The Committee received the report of the Chief Executive to enable the Committee to consider an issue that was raised at a recent Taxi Surgery, when a member of the trade had suggested that the licence plate displayed by all licensed hackney carriages and private hire vehicles should no longer bear an expiry date, and that there should be a disc displayed in the windscreen indicating the expiry date.
It was reported that the issue had been raised at Taxi Forum meetings over a period of years. Officers had always advised Members that, in their view, it was appropriate to include the expiry date on the plate itself, and that the interests of public safety outweighed the cost of changing the plate on expiry.
Currently, including Lancaster, 12 of the 14 Lancashire licensing authorities included expiry dates on their vehicle plates. Of the two that did not, it was understood that one was considering introducing expiry dates. One authority had indicated that it had introduced the expiry date following criticism from the court when it had prosecuted someone for using a vehicle with an expired licence.
It was reported that the current plates were appropriate and consistent with best practice. It would be open to the Committee to refer the matter to Cabinet if Members were of the view that the content of plates should be changed.
It was proposed by Councillor Edwards and seconded by Councillor Gardiner:
“That the matter be referred to Cabinet for its consideration.”
Upon being put to the vote, 5 Members voted in favour of the proposition and 3 against, whereupon the Chairman declared the proposal to be carried.
Resolved:
That the matter be referred to Cabinet for its consideration.