Agenda item

To consider a report setting out the outcome of recent consultation on the introduction of a fare surcharge for hackney carriage journeys involving 5 or more passengers.

The Committee considered a report seeking approval of changes in the Hackney Carriage surcharge of 50% surcharge on journeys with 5 or more passengers

The Hackney Carriage Surcharge for journeys with five or more passengers had been introduced following the Council’s adoption of the Accessible Taxi Policy in 2000 in recognition of the fact that at the time the policy was introduced the choice of wheelchair accessible vehicles was limited to London style cabs or large van conversions.  Both of which were significantly more expensive to purchase, run and maintain than many of the saloon vehicles licensed at the time.  Over the past ten years, the range of accessible vehicles has increased and the compulsion to purchase a larger vehicle no longer exists. Currently only 31 of the 86 vehicles licensed as hackney carriages in Bracknell Forest are large van variants. 

It was therefore considered that the market circumstances and rationale for the introduction of the surcharge had changed significantly since it was introduced by the Licensing and Safety Committee in July 2002 and that it was no longer a proportionate or appropriate level of charge.  Consultation on replacing the 50% surcharge with a flat rate of 50 pence per additional passenger on journeys with more than 4 passengers was carried out between January and March 2013 via the Council’s website, notification in trade newsletters and Twitter.  A total of 22 responses were received with the majority expressing opposition to the proposed change with the main reasons for the objection being:

• Removal of the tariff in its present form would make running the larger vehicles economically unviable
• If the larger vehicles became unviable then their numbers would decrease and larger parties would in future have to travel in two vehicles, the current pricing structure thus represents good value for money for customers

Mrs Jane Robson, JJM Taxis, spoke against the proposed changes and stressed that if introduced the changes would have a detrimental impact on a service that was already suffering in the current financial climate.

Arising from Members’ questions and comments the following points were noted:

• One complaint had been received from a member of the public in relation to the current surcharge and a handful of drivers had reported incidents with passengers complaining about the fare increase at the end of their journey
• To prevent fraudulent use all meters were locked to specific times and dates.  Any allegations of fraudulent use were investigated
• The surcharges used by other local authorities varied however neighbouring local authorities imposed smaller surcharges on larger groups with many imposing a surcharge based on a flat rate per passenger
• Reading’s Hackney Carriage fleet were all London Black cab styles and many other local authorities had introduced accessible vehicles
• Signs were displayed in Hackney Carriages drawing customer’s attention to the surcharge but it was questioned how prominent these signs were
• Meters were owned by the vehicle owner but the tariffs were set by the Meter Company in accordance with local authority requirements
• Whilst Private Hire Vehicles were able to negotiate their charges for pre-booked journeys Hackney Carriages operating within the borough had to use their meter unless the journey ended outside the Borough. In such circumstances they could negotiate the fare as long as the fare was not higher than that which would have been determined by the meter.
• The possibility of phasing in the tariff changes was suggested

RESOLVED that the decision on the proposed changes to the Hackney Carriage Surcharge be postponed until the meeting of the Licensing and Safety Committee on 4 July 2013 following consideration of a full report detailing the full range of options available.