Agenda item

To consider a report by the Head of Planning, Public Protection and Countryside Services (copy enclosed) seeking members’ review of the existing maximum age of vehicles for both new and renewal applications following interim amendments to the existing policy in January 2022.

RESOLVED that –

(a)      the implementation date to only licence vehicles up to the age of 12 years old from the date of first registration be deferred for a further twelve months from July 2023 to July 2024 pending a review of the current vehicle age restrictions;

(b)      officers be authorised to instigate a consultation process with all licence holders and key partners to consider an increase in the renewal age of vehicles to over 12 years old based on strict maintenance schedule requirements and compliance testing regime, rather than age as the sole indicator;

(c)      officers be authorised to instigate a consultation process with all licence holders and key partners to consider an increase in the age of new to fleet vehicles to under 8 years old based on strict maintenance schedule requirements and compliance testing regime, rather than age as the sole indicator, and

(d)      officers be authorised to look into a process of delegation for determining new to fleet vehicle applications for vehicles over 5 years old whilst the consultation processes above are ongoing, and bring a report back to the Committee’s next meeting for consideration.

The Public Protection Business Manager (PPBM) submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking members’ review of the existing maximum age for vehicles for both new and renewal applications following interim amendments to the existing policy in January 2022 and request to relax the upper age limit for new vehicles.

The Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Vehicle Policy had been approved by the Licensing Committee in December 2016, effective from 1 July 2017.  The policy included an age restriction on vehicles, namely all new to fleet vehicles must be a maximum of 5 years old, and any vehicle reaching the age of 12 years old must be removed.  A grace period of 5 years was given for vehicles already licensed which was due to cease in July 2022.  Following a request from a taxi proprietor in January 2022 to urgently review the vehicle age policy in light of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on procuring both new and used vehicles, the Committee approved a 12-month delay to implementation of the age restriction to allow recovery time from the effects of the pandemic, with the position to be reviewed by January 2023.  The same taxi proprietor also asked that the requirement for new vehicle applications be relaxed from a maximum of 5 to 8 years old.  A request had since been received from a different operator to consider relaxation of the age requirement for Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAVs).  As those aspects constituted a policy change, they needed to be considered as part of the review and wider consultation.  Information regarding vehicle age requirements for other North Wales authorities, including WAVs, had also been provided.

Members were asked to consider whether it was appropriate to relax the maximum age limit for new and renewal vehicles and if so, whether further conditional requirements would be needed.  21 of the 287 licensed vehicles were currently affected by the age limit, which would rise to 23 in July 2023 when the 5-year grace period expired.  The yearly number of new to fleet vehicles since introduction of the policy in 2017 had been produced, with those vehicles having been subject to the maximum 5-year age limit.  Since 1 August 2022 there had been a further 12 new to fleet vehicles.  If members were minded to support any amendments to the policy a consultation would be required with all licence holders and key partners.

Members discussed the report a length with the PPBM together with the reasoning behind the introduction of an age restriction on licensed vehicles and sought further clarity in that regard and whether a separate age condition in relation to WAVs was warranted.  Whilst it was noted that the vehicle age policy had been introduced to modernise the current fleet of licensed vehicles to ensure high standards, questions were raised as to the evidence base to support such a policy, and whether ensuring vehicle safety and standards would be better met through a robust maintenance regime, possibly correlating to the age or mileage of the vehicle.

During debate the PPBM responded to members’ questions/comments as follows –

·       the vehicle age policy had been introduced to address safety concerns and the expectation of mechanical wear and tear over time due to excessive mileage

·       standards and safety were one and the same and improving vehicle standards would result in improved vehicle safety

·       there would be merit in introducing a regular maintenance scheme to offset the mechanical wear and tear on vehicles due to age and mileage undertaken

·       officers were unaware of any serious incidents due to vehicle age and it was not known whether or not that had been due to the current age restriction in place

·       a separate age limit for WAVs could be used to encourage more accessible vehicles to be licensed, which were significantly more expensive that standard saloon vehicles, and representations had been received from Passenger Transport who had found it difficult to source WAVs for council contracts

·       some local authorities had a policy that all new to fleet vehicles must be WAVs to meet demand.  However, the demand for WAVs in Denbighshire was such that it would not justify a WAV only new to fleet policy

·       vehicle proprietors were required to provide maintenance schedules and work was ongoing for those records to be presented to ensure they were in place

·       it would be possible to introduce more stringent compliance checks for older vehicles and increase the number of inspections depending on age or mileage

·       the Welsh Government was currently undertaking a review of taxi legislation following which expected standards would be set out thereby superseding some of the council’s existing policies, including age restrictions, and the goal of Welsh Government was for all taxis to be electric vehicles by 2028.

During deliberations, the Chair highlighted the need to bear in mind forthcoming legislation from Welsh Government regarding national licensing standards which may result in a further revisit of hackney carriage and private hire licensing policies.

Some members felt that the vehicle age policy had been successful in improving the quality of the vehicle fleet and the number of new to fleet vehicles demonstrated that the industry was buying within those current stipulations.  Other members questioned the logic of the vehicle age policy given new to fleet vehicles must be under 5 years of age to be safe but were then subsequently licensed up to 12 years, and new to fleet vehicles may have also excessive mileage but older vehicle outside of the taxi fleet may have lower mileage.  However, all were in agreement that safety of the licensed fleet was of paramount importance and that there would be merit in reviewing the age limits for both renewal and new to fleet vehicles, particularly given the cost associated with WAVs and hybrid/electric vehicles, alongside an appropriate and proportionate vehicle maintenance and compliance testing regime dependent on vehicle age and mileage, and for relevant consultation to be carried out.  Given the review would take some time, it was also agreed to further defer the implementation date for removing vehicles older than 12 years to July 2024.  There was also some debate in relation to introducing an appropriate mechanism via the scheme of delegation for determining new applications for vehicles over 5 years’ old in the interim period.

Having considered all the information contained in the report, and having agreed a way forward, the Solicitor restated, for clarity, the propositions put forward and seconded by members.  Upon being put to the vote it was unanimously –

RESOLVED that –

(a)      the implementation date to only licence vehicles up to the age of 12 years old from the date of first registration be deferred for a further twelve months from July 2023 to July 2024 pending a review of the current vehicle age restrictions;

(b)      officers be authorised to instigate a consultation process with all licence holders and key partners to consider an increase in the renewal age of vehicles to over 12 years old based on strict maintenance schedule requirements and compliance testing regime, rather than age as the sole indicator;

(c)      officers be authorised to instigate a consultation process with all licence holders and key partners to consider an increase in the age of new to fleet vehicles to under 8 years old based on strict maintenance schedule requirements and compliance testing regime, rather than age as the sole indicator, and

(d)      officers be authorised to look into a process of delegation for determining new to fleet vehicle applications for vehicles over 5 years old whilst the consultation processes above are ongoing, and bring a report back to the Committee’s next meeting for consideration.