Agenda item

Report for the Lead Member for Environment, Neighbourhoods and

Community Safety.

Salford City Council - Record of Decision (Cabinet)

I, Paul Dennett, Salford City Mayor, in exercise of the powers contained within the City Council Constitution do hereby approve:

The adoption of the proposals for Greater Manchester Minimum Licensing Standards for hackney carriages and private hire vehicles as they relate to licensed vehicles (Stage 2), whilst retaining existing colour policy for hackney carriage vehicles and existing frequency of vehicle compliance tests of two tests per year for all vehicles.

The Reasons are:

The adoption of the proposed standards will

-       deliver improved standards in relation to driver and operator standards in order to provide the public with safe, visible and high-quality taxi and private hire services,

-       help to achieve a greater level of consistency across GM taxi and private hire licensing regulation including licensing authority service delivery.

Additionally, the adoption of the proposed standards will contribute to the broader objectives of improving and integrating the transport system as a whole across Salford and Greater Manchester and the achievement of Greater Manchester’s clean air and carbon reduction goals.

Options considered and rejected were:

To reject the proposed minimum licensing standards and review Salford’s existing Taxi Licensing policy independently of neighbouring local authorities.

Assessment of Risk: Low. The costs impacts of the adoption of the minimum standards relating to licensed vehicles under Stage 2 are low. The majority of the requirements relating to vehicles are already reflected in full or are similar to Salford’s existing Licensing policy and processes.  The requirement for vehicles to comply with the Greater Manchester Clean Air Zone emission policy will impact a minority of vehicles and will align with licensees’ interests to acquire compliant vehicles to avoid the need to pay daily charges under the Clean Air Zone.  Owners of non-compliant vehicles can apply for vehicle upgrade funding through the Clean Air Zone Financial Support Scheme, if they meet the funding criteria, to support this transition.

The source of funding is: The regulation of Private Hire Vehicles and Hackney Carriages can be funded from license fees based on cost recovery, as set out in statute.

Legal Advice obtained:Barbara Gora, Manchester and Salford Shared Legal Services: The Licensing Authority Salford City Council has the right to amend its Taxi Licensing Policy.

Financial Advice obtained: N/A

Procurement Advice obtained: N/A

HR Advice obtained: N/A

Climate Change Advice obtained:

Supplied by: Tim Cook – extract from Greater Manchester report to GMCA:

Link to Clean Air Plan

An important element of the overall approach is to provide clarity and long-term certainty for vehicle owners, so that they are able to plan the upgrade of their vehicles in a way that meets and contributes positively to GM’s Air Quality, Carbon and other environmental obligations. 

This will also help ensure that applicants to the Clean Taxi Fund, secured as part of the GM Clean Air Plan, will have a clear understanding of what locally licensed vehicle requirements will be over the longer term, for example in terms of emissions, age and other criteria, so they can determine the best use of the available funds given their specific circumstances.  Note that only those vehicle owners who have licensed their vehicle with one of the GM local licensing authorities (in the 12 months prior to the scheme commencing) will be eligible for Clean Taxi Funds to support upgrade.

The following documents have been used to assist the decision process:

·         10 Sept 2021, report to GMCA: MLS Update and Stage 1 Recommendations

·         25 June 2021, report to GMCA: MLS Update

·         31 July 2020, report to GMCA: MLS Consultation

·         29 May 2020, report to GMCA: Clean Air Plan Update

(if the documents disclose exempt or confidential information, they should not be listed, but the following wording shall be inserted: "(The relevant documents contain exempt or confidential information and are not available for public inspection)":-

Contact Officer: Timothy Cook.     Email: timothy.cook@salford.gov.uk

-       The appropriate scrutiny to call-in the decision is the Community and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Panel.     

For Democratic Services use only

This decision was published on   22.12.21                                         

This decision will come in force at 4.00 p.m. on 6^th January 2022                                                 unless it is called-in in accordance with the Decision Making Process Rules.