Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Estella Tincknell.

None received.

To confirm as a correct record for signing by the Chair.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the last PSP Full Committee meeting on 9 June 2020 are agreed as a correct record.

Up to 10 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by5 pm on Thursday 14 January.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on Tuesday 19 January.

None received.

Emma Lake introduced the report and highlighted the following points:

·        Officers have been reviewing all licensing policies to make sure they adhere to the new national standards.

·        Some policy changes were already approved last year, some have changed slightly, some are new requirements. This meeting is to flag the key changes that will have large impact on drivers.

·        There is a new operator policy for the first time. There were previously checks, but this is a proper policy document. Operator conditions have also been amended.

·        The DBS update was previously approved, but this needs review due to the impact of the conviction policy. Online DBS checks have already rolled out and drivers will sign up to the update service. Once everyone is online BCC will be able to check DBS records at will. This will also enable BCC to see the impact of the conviction policy, the new policy may have longer suspension periods that means the suitability of a driver needs revisiting.

·        There is an expectation that drivers that are out of the country for a significant period of time should produce Certificates of Good Character. This may be difficult to obtain in some countries, so will need sensible guidance and alternative acceptable evidence to resolve.

·        Applicants for a vehicle licence will need to provide basic disclosure.

·        Statutory standards talk about who to include within the consultation period. The consultation is expected to last 8 weeks.

·        Appendix 1 shows the national standards from Department for Transport. If BCC does not follow the standards there must be a very good reason.

·        Appendix 2 shows the current policy and how it relates to the standard and will be published as part of the consultation. Appendix 3 shows all policies and conditions in one place. Appendix 4 is the Equalities Impact Assessment.

·        On window tints, the current policy is that these are not permitted, which means some drivers have to remove factory standards tints at their own expense. The new policy allows tints.

·        Card readers in hackney carriages would be mandatory. This was originally a request from the trade to improve customer access. Drivers will need to pay for card readers but the cost is fairly negligible.

Discussion Notes:

·       Members thanked officers for the considerable amount of work developing this policy, some members are involved in the taxi working group so have seen the drafts and most major issues were resolved before this meeting.

·       There was concern about making the consultation as accessible as possible as a significant number of drivers have English as an additional language.

·       Declaring convictions on application is dependent on the honesty of drivers. DBS checks reveal convictions but are only a “point in time”, the new online process has higher frequency so flags these more often. The proposed DBS update checks are every 6 months, where they are currently 3 years.

·       Know that the trade is made mostly of BAME individuals, getting a Certificate of Good Character would be impossible in some regions. There needs to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.