The Director of Law, HR and Asset Management reported that on 12 October 2009 a petition was presented to the Council and the subsequent meeting of this Committee on 22 March 2010 to review supply and demand for hackney carriage vehicle licences.  He reported that at the meeting on 22 March 2010 it was resolved that before a survey was conducted a further report be presented to this Committee to provide details of the costs of a survey and how these costs would be recovered.

The Director reported that at the meeting of this Committee held on 22 March 2010, it was resolved:

‘(1)  That in view of the position in respect of the overall hackney carriage licence numbers and the Department for Transport Best Practice Guidance the Committee does consider that it is in the interest of the public to undertake a survey of supply and demand.

(2)  That before a survey is conducted, a further report be presented to the next meeting of the Committee to include details of costs and how those costs will be recovered.’

It was reported that in order to obtain accurate details of the cost of a survey it would be necessary to invite tenders from prospective companies who could undertake this type of work.  Information had been obtained from Sefton Council who had recently been through a tender process for such a survey during March.  In response to the tendering process undertaken by Sefton Council bids were received from four companies, the lowest being £20,376 and the highest £30,470.  It was appreciated that whilst there were differences in the taxi trade between Wirral and Sefton the range of these bids were likely to be indicative of the potential cost of carrying out a survey in Wirral.

The Director reported that a full tendering process could reveal differences in the depth and scope of work that may be carried out by different companies and this could be reflected in the range of costs provided.  A table showing fees that would be payable in respect of hackney carriage driver and vehicle licences was included within the report.  Regular reviews would have to be undertaken if a limit on hackney carriage vehicles was subsequently to be introduced as the Council would be constantly at risk of appeal against refusal, therefore an up to date survey would be a pre-requisite of defending any such appeals and surveys every three years would be recommended to justify any policy of quantity of restriction.  Similarly, defending any appeals to Court would have cost implications in respect of Court and legal fees and there would be no provision in the budget for these amounts therefore such amounts would have to be covered by an increase in licence fees.

Mr D Cummins of Unite, addressed the Committee and reiterated that the cost of the survey would be funded from licensing fees as demonstrated by other Authorities and would not impact on Council tax payers.  He clarified that the survey would ascertain the level of supply and demand for hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licences.

Members asked questions regarding how long the survey would take including the tendering process and pointed out that they would need accurate figures in order to make a decision on costs.

Members of the Committee considered that both the exceptional circumstances of the application and the exceptional condition of the vehicle justified a departure from the Council’s current policy of requiring a vehicle to be three years old or less from the date of manufacture or registration (whichever is the sooner) when granting a licence.

It was, on a motion by Councillor Lewis and seconded by Councillor Wood -

Resolved (10:0) - That it be agreed to proceed with the tendering process to carry out the survey and that a further report be brought back to a special meeting of this Committee at a date to be arranged providing details of tenders received.