Agenda item

Hackney Carriage Fare Review 2022

Meeting of Cabinet, Tuesday, 12th April 2022 6.00 p.m. (Item 101.)

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Brookes)

Referral report from the Licensing Committee. The report was marked ‘to follow’ when the agenda was published on 1 April 2022 and was published on 11 April 2022.

Minutes:

(Cabinet Member with Special Responsibility Councillor Brookes)

Cabinet received a report from the Licensing Committee to approve the recommendations agreed by the Licensing Committee on 7 April 2022 regarding setting a new Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff. Consideration of the Hackney Carriage Fare Review had been deferred from February’s Cabinet (Minute 75 refers) to allow for a consultation exercise with hackney carriage drivers before the item was reconsidered by the Licensing Committee and referred to Cabinet for endorsement.

The options, options analysis, including risk assessment and officer preferred option, were set out in the report as follows:

	Option 1: Uplift of 50p to flagfall across 3 tariffs and apply 10p uplift to waiting charges as set out in Appendix 4	Option 2: Increase to flag fall, rolling rate and amend yardage applied as proposed by the licencing trade and set out in Appendix 4	Option 3: Applying Retail Price Index (RPI) at the current rate 7.8% as set out in Appendix 4	Option 4: Applying baseline Retail Price Index (RPI) at 22.25% as set out in Appendix 4
Advantages	Passengers are aware of the maximum increase to journey	Represents rising fuel/insurance costs Widely supported by the trade (82%	Minimal uplift for public across the tariff.	Represents baseline position, sets out what the tariff would look like if policy to apply RPI had been applied since adoption of the policy in Nov 2104.
Disadvantages	No increase to rolling rate – minimal uplift for trade Trade unsupportive of this tariff	Increase for public too great, uplifting flag-fall, rolling rate and waiting times. Amending yardage may confuse or alarm passengers as metre will change every 1/10 mile	Applying 7.8% does not represent true RPI rate as changes monthly; consistent approach needed. eg, use Nov RPI rate. Drivers need to carry pennies or round down fares	Increase for public too great uplifting flag-fall, rolling rate and waiting times Drivers need to carry pennies or round down fares Most expensive for first 2-mile when comparing with Lancashire/Cumbrian authorities
Risks	Tariff does not represent rising fuel/insurance costs Drivers may leave the trade to find alternative employment	Public use alternative public transport	Tariff does not represent rising fuel/insurance costs	Public use alternative public transport

Members of Licensing Committee considered the 4 tariff options, the advantages, disadvantages and risks associated with each both in terms of public perception and how it would affect the licensed trade at a time of increased fuel costs and rising cost of living. Members considered the consultation responses and preferred tariff of the licensed trade and recommended that option 2 was approved as the Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff for the year, along with commitment to an annual review of the tariff by way of application of retail price index (RPI) to both flag fall and rolling rate, rounding down figures to the nearest 5p.

Future reviews should be considered by the taxi working party before any amended tariff was presented to Licensing Committee. This would allow for consultation with representatives of the licensed trade. There has been an exceptional response to the survey; it had proved useful to gauge the opinion of many licence holders.

Councillor Brookes proposed, seconded by Councillor Hamilton-Cox:-

“That Option 2, as set out in the appendix to the report, be adopted as the Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff 2022/23."

Councillors then voted:-

Resolved unanimously:

(1) That Option 2, as set out in the appendix to the report, be adopted as the Hackney Carriage Fare Tariff 2022/23."

Officer responsible for effecting the decision:

Interim Director for Communities & the Environment

Reasons for making the decision:

The setting of fares is an Executive function as it is not one that is listed in the Local Authorities (Function and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000 and therefore falls to the Cabinet to make the decision. In its capacity as an advisory Committee to Cabinet, the Licensing Committee were required to refer any decision to Cabinet for approval.

Supporting documents: