Licensing Sub Committee of Corporate Services Committee
18 February 2004
Irvine, 18 February 2004 - At a Special Meeting of the Licensing Sub Committee of the Corporate Services Committee of North Ayrshire Council at 2.00 p.m.
Present
David Munn, John Moffat, Jane Gorman, Robert Rae, and Ian Richardson.
In Attendance
M. Leck, Chief Legal Officer (Licensing and District Court) and K. Walsh, Solicitor (Licensing and District Court) (Legal and Protective); and M. McKeown, Corporate and Democratic Support Officer (Chief Executive's).
Chair
Councillor Munn in the Chair.
Apologies for Absence
Donald Reid and John Reid.
1. Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982: Taxi Fare Review
Submitted report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Protective) on the ongoing review of the scale of taxi fares in force within North Ayrshire.
The Sub Committee at its meeting held on 26 January 2004 considered a report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Protective) on proposals to undertake a review of the scale of taxi fares in force within North Ayrshire, as required by Section 17 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. At that time the Sub Committee agreed to (a) approve the proposals for undertaking the review and consulting with local taxi operators; and (b) receive further reports on the progress of the review, including any proposals for introducing a revised scale of taxi fares, at future meetings.
The report by the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal and Protective) set out the background to the review and, as a basis for discussion with taxi operators, provided a) a copy of the current scale of taxi fares in operation; b) a comparison between the scale of taxi fares in North Ayrshire and those of surrounding local authorities; and c) Retail Price Indices relevant to costs incurred by taxi operators. This information had previously been circulated to all taxi operators. Taxi operators had been invited to attend the meeting to make representations with regard to the review.
The Sub Committee agreed to consider representations from taxi operators on the review of the scale of taxi fares.
2. Exclusion of Public
The Sub Committee resolved, in terms of Section 50 A (4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to exclude from the Meeting the press and the public for the following items of business on the grounds indicated in terms of Paragraph 6 of Schedule 7A of the Act.
3. Meeting with Taxi Operators
All taxi operators in North Ayrshire had been invited to attend the meeting and/or to make written submissions in respect of the review of taxi fares. Nineteen operators were in attendance and the Chief Legal Officer (Licensing and District Court) intimated that five written representations had been received.
Of the written representations received, two requested that the status quo be maintained, one provided a comparison of taxi fares throughout the UK, as published in a trade magazine, and requested that substantial increases be introduced, whilst the remaining representations requested modest increases to the scale of taxi fares.
The Chair invited the operators in attendance to comment on the written submissions and to submit their own proposals in respect of the review of taxi fares. The operators present intimated their support for a modest increase in taxi fares.
The Sub Committee agreed that the Chief Legal Officer (Licensing and District Court) consider the representations received and submit proposals for a revised scale of taxi fares to the next meeting, together with examples of how the cost of taxi journeys will increase should an increase in taxi fares be implemented.
The meeting ended at 3.30 p.m.