SUPPLEMENTARY DOCUMENT PACK (Licensing Committee 19 04 23) BOOKMARKED
West Dunbartonshire Council · 19 April 2023
Back to Licensing Committee — 19 April 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Supplementary Agenda Licensing Committee Date: Wednesday, 19 April 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ Time: 14:00 ___________________________________________________________________ Venue: Civic Space, First Floor, 16 Church Street, Dumbarton, G82 1QL ___________________________________________________________________ Contact: Email: committee.admin@west-dunbarton.gov.uk Dear Member With reference to the agenda for the above meeting of the Licensing Committee which was issued on 3 April 2023, please now see included an Appendix for ‘Item 6 - Impact on the Clydebank taxi trade from the implementation of Glasgow City Council's Low Emission Zone’ for your attention. Yours faithfully PETER HESSETT Chief Executive Page 73
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Note referred to:- ITEM 6 APPENDIX 1 - EIA ASSESSMENT FOR ‘IMPACT ON THE CLYDEBANK TAXI TRADE FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL’S LOW EMISSION ZONE Distribution: Councillor Ian Dickson Councillor Jim McElhill Councillor June McKay Councillor John Millar Councillor Lawrence O’Neill Councillor Chris Pollock Councillor Gurpreet Singh Johal Councillor Hazel Sorrell All other Councillors for information. Chief Officer – Regulatory and Regeneration Date issued: 6 April 2023 Page 74
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AssessmentNo 722 Owner michael.mcdougall Resource Transformation Service/Establishment Regulatory First Name Surname Job title Head Officer Michael McDougall Section Head (Licensing) (include job titles/organisation) Members Robert Mackie, Senior Officer (Please note: the word 'policy' is used as shorthand for stategy policy function or financial decision) Policy Title 100% wheelchair accessible taxi fleet in the Clydebank Zone The aim, objective,purpose and intended out come of policy This policy requires that all taxis in the Clydebank zone to be wheelchair accessible vehicles. The policy intent is to make sure that persons who use a wheelchair or have additional mobility can access taxis. This is important as taxis can engage in then and there hires. Please note that this policy applies only taxis. A taxi licence allows it to engage in "then and there" hires, i.e. it can be hailed in the street for immediate hire. This contrasts with private hire cars that must be pre-booked. Service/Partners/Stakeholders/service users involved in the development and/or implementation of policy. This is a longstanding policy of the Licensing Committee following a decision in 1996 by Clydebank District Council. Does the proposals involve the procurement of any goods or services? No If yes please confirm that you have contacted our procurement services to discuss your requirements. No SCREENING You must indicate if there is any relevance to the four areas Duty to eliminate discrimination (E), advance equal opportunities (A) or foster good relations (F) Yes Relevance to Human Rights (HR) Yes Relevance to Health Impacts (H) Yes Relevance to Social Economic Impacts (SE) Yes Who will be affected by this policy? Disabled persons who use wheelchairs, carers, taxi licence holders, and taxi driver licence holders. Who will be/has been involved in the consultation process? No recent consultation has been carried out. The matter has been discussed at a meeting of the Taxi Forum on 8 March 2023. Please outline any particular need/barriers which equality groups may have in relation to this policy list evidence you are using to support this and whether there is any negative impact on particular groups. Needs Evidence Impact Age Older persons are more like to have mobility needs that require the use of Increased use of wheelchairs and reliance on taxis to access services. Older persons who use wheelchairs and any carer may rely on taxis to travel Appendix 1 Page 75
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wheelchairs. from place to place. The ability for a taxi to take there and then hires means that persons do not necessarily book a trip in advance and instead can hail any taxi licensed for the Clydebank area. Further, a 100% wheelchair accessible fleet means that should an older person using a wheelchair book a taxi then there will be an unconstrained supply of such taxis. Should older persons not be able to access taxis then that may restrict their ability to participate in public life as they cannot travel to access services and facilities. Cross Cutting Disability Disabled persons who use wheelchairs will require the use of a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Longstanding policy requiring a 100% wheelchair accessible vehicle, Taxi and Private Hire Car Licensing, Best Practice Guidance for Licensing Authorities, Second Edition, April 2012, and Wheelchair accessible travel- taxi and private hire services, UK Government. Disabled persons who use wheelchairs and any carer may rely on taxis to travel from place to place. The ability for a taxi to take there and then hires means that persons do not necessarily book a trip in advance and instead can hail any taxi licensed for the Clydebank area as they will all be wheelchair accessible. This means that they can access services the same as a person who does not share Page 76
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that characteristic. Further, a 100% wheelchair accessible fleet means that should a disabled person book a taxi then there will be an unconstrained supply of such taxis. Should disabled persons not be able to access taxis then that may restrict their ability to participate in public life as they cannot travel to access services and facilities. Eliminating the need for a 100% wheelchair accessible fleet will have a significantly disproportionate impact on wheelchair users. The impact of this policy is that: * being able to hail a taxi and get in with their wheelchair without having to book a taxi in advance or rely on public transport; * being able to travel in a safe way; and * booking a taxi knowing that they will not need to wait for a wheelchair accessible vehicle to be available. Social & Economic Impact Taxi licence holders are impacted on owing to costs in replacing and replacing wheelchair accessible vehicles. Customers of taxis are potentially impacted as they will not be able to be Meeting of Taxi Forum and correspondence from members of the trade. Could deter persons from entering the trade or mean that current licence holders may leave the trade. Customers may utilise another form of transport. Page 77
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conveyed to Glasgow City Centre as the vehicle may not be compliable with the LEZ. Sex Gender Reassign Health Human Rights A range of human rights are potentially engaged, for example, the right to private and family life includes the right to have and maintain family relationships which may depend on accessing taxi services, and includes a right to participate in essential economic, social, cultural and leisure activities. Use of taxis to convey persons to various places. A 100% wheelchair accessible fleet allows for wheelchair users to use taxis to have and maintain family relations and to participate in essential economic, social, cultural and leisure activities. Marriage & Civil Partnership Pregnancy & Maternity Race Religion and Belief Sexual Orientation Actions Policy has a negative impact on an equality group,but is still to be implemented, please provide justification for this. Will the impact of the policy be monitored and reported on an ongoing bases? A report on the terms of the policy is being considered by the Licensing Committee at the meeting of 19 April 2023. Q7 What is you recommendation for this policy? Intoduce Please provide a meaningful summary of how you have reached the recommendation EIA 722: This policy is currently in effect. In summary the policy makes sure that wheelchair users can access taxi services in the same way a person who doesn't share those characteristics does. Any revised policy in this regard must be properly assessed against the public sector equality duty by way of an Equality Impact Assessment however it is the view of the Chief Officer that any change to the policy to remove a 100% wheelchair accessible fleet would not survive a challenge under the public sector equality duty and would be seen as a disproportionate and a retrograde step for a public body. Page 78