The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety submitted a report to consider the recommendations in the “Unmet Demand Survey” report (2018) and agree the Policy on Hackney Carriage Quantity Control to the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 14 May 2019.

The Committee resolved to accept the recommendations in the report. The minutes of this meeting are availableherealong with the appendices to the attached report.

Councillor Clarkson, the Chair of the Committee, will present the report.

Recommendation: The General Purposes Licensing Committee recommends that Council:

1.    note that there is currently no significant unmet demand for the services of Hackney Carriage Vehicles; and therefore

2.    resolve to maintain the Council’s Policy of Hackney Carriage Quantity Control and the current quota of 107 Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences; and

3.    resolve that a further “Unmet Demand survey” be commissioned in 2021, subject to any changes to relevant legislation.

Council considered a report of the Head of Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety submitted to the General Purposes Licensing Committee on 14 May 2019 asking for consideration of the recommendations in the “Unmet Demand Survey” report (2018) and agree the Policy on Hackney Carriage Quantity Control.

Councillor Clarkson, the Chair of the Committee, presented the report and moved the recommendations, which were agreed on being seconded and put to the vote.

Council resolved to:

1.            to note that there is currently no significant unmet demand for the services of Hackney Carriage Vehicles; and therefore

2.            to maintain the Council’s Policy of Hackney Carriage Quantity Control and the current quota of 107 Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences; and

3.            that a further “Unmet Demand survey” be commissioned in 2021, subject to any changes to relevant legislation.

The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety has submitted a report to consider the recommendations in the “Unmet Demand Survey” report (2018) and agree the Policy on Hackney Carriage Quantity Control.

Recommendations: The General Purposes Licensing Committee is recommended to:

1.    Agree to accept the recommendations of the Hackney Carriage “Unmet Demand survey” report prepared by Licensed Vehicle Surveys and Assessment (LVSA) indicating that there is currently no significant unmet demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles in Oxford;

2.    Recommend to Council that there is currently no significant unmet demand for the services of Hackney Carriage Vehicles and therefore to resolve to maintain the Council’s Policy of Hackney Carriage Quantity Control and the current quota of 107 Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences; and

3.    Recommend to Council that a further “Unmet Demand survey” be commissioned in 2021, subject to any changes to relevant legislation.

The Licensing Officer  introduced the report The recommendation to implement an official Policy on Hackney Carriage Quantity Control  was agreed by Council in June 2008, including imposing a requirement that periodic reviews of the Policy were carried out.

A Hackney Carriage Quantity Control Policy is in force locally and has the effect of limiting the number of Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences granted by the Authority to a level that meets but does not exceed demand for the services of Hackney Carriage Vehicles. The current quota is set at 107 Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences.

The Licensing Authority reviews the specified limit by carrying out “Unmet

Demand Surveys” every three years, which is following government best

practice advice. The Policy itself forms part of the Council’s Policy Framework

and changes need to be agreed by the Council.

Following a Council tendering process, CTS Traffic and Transportation trading as Licensed Vehicle Surveys and Assessment (LVSA), was appointed to

undertake the “Unmet Demand Survey” in 2018. He then invited Ian Millership of LVSA to present the outcome of the Unmet Demand Survey, a copy of which is attached to these minutes.

The key conclusions of the survey included the desirability of better advertising of taxi ranks; the need to ensure that vehicle numbers are not reduced by the encouragement of environmental improvements; the absence of any evidence that unmet demand is significant; and a view that the current limit (107 Hackney Carriages) should therefore  be retained at the current level.

In response to questions Mr Millership noted the relative ease with which ranks coud be clearly marked, citing the example of the practice in Newcastle.

Mr Millership was thanked for his presentation.  The Committee then resolved to:

1.    Agree to accept the recommendations of the Hackney Carriage “Unmet Demand survey” report prepared by Licensed Vehicle Surveys and Assessment (LVSA) indicating that there is currently no significant unmet demand for Hackney Carriage Vehicles in Oxford;

2.    Recommend to Council that there is currently no significant unmet demand for the services of Hackney Carriage Vehicles and therefore to resolve to maintain the Council’s Policy of Hackney Carriage Quantity Control and the current quota of 107 Hackney Carriage Vehicle licences; and

3.    Recommend to Council that a further “Unmet Demand survey” be commissioned in 2021, subject to any changes to relevant legislation.