Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Gordon Blair, Rory Colville, Robin Currie, Audrey Forrest, George Freeman, Graham Archibald Hardie, Roderick McCuish and Jean Moffat.

There were no declarations of interest intimated.

Report by Head of Legal and Regulatory Support

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and introductions were made.  He then outlined the procedure that would be followed.

 

The Chair advised of a preliminary matter which would require to be dealt with before the Committee considered the application and invited Mr McMillan to advise.

 

Mr McMillan advised of a late objection from Mr Franks and advised that the Committee would need to consider whether or not to receive the objection.

 

Mr Franks was invited to advise the Committee of the reason why his objection was late.  Mr Franks advised that there had been a discrepancy on the online register of applications where there had been a gap of five weeks between the register being updated.  He advised that Mr Berry’s application did not show on the register until the closing date for objections had passed.

 

Mr Berry said that he didn’t think that the objection should be received and asked for evidence to back up Mr Franks reason for his late objection.

 

The Chair asked Mr Franks how late his objection was to which he replied that it was one day late.

 

Mr McMillan clarified that the online register was maintained by the Council, that the normal process was that it would be updated every Tuesday, but due to staff absence this had not been done.  He advised that under Schedule 1 of the Act the Council are required to update the online register as soon as is reasonably practicable and advised that Notices had been displayed within the Area Offices within the required timescales and had been made available for 28 days.

 

The Chair confirmed with Mr McMillan that objections were due on 26 November 2019 and Mr Franks objection had been received on 27 November 2019.

 

The Committee agreed to accept the late objection.

 

The Chair invited the Applicant to speak in support of his application.

 

APPLICANT

 

Mr Berry told the Committee that he was applying for a wheelchair accessible taxi licence and that the recent report had recommended the need for more wheelchair accessible taxis in the area.  He advised that he would be the only operator to do both normal and wheelchair accessible taxis and had converted his car to accommodate a wheelchair.  He advised that he would be happy for the Committee to attach conditions to his licence so that his vehicle could be a wheelchair only vehicle.

 

QUESTIONS FROM OBJECTORS

 

Mr Franks advised that he had no questions for the applicant.

 

OBJECTORS

 

Mr Franks advised that he was objecting because Mr Berry was operating contrary to his private hire operators licence as he was using a wired taxi meter in his vehicles and had been cross border hiring in Dumbarton.

 

QUESTIONS FROM APPLICANT

 

Mr Berry asked for evidence of this.

 

Mr Franks referred Members to the pictures he had submitted as part of his late objection and pointed out that you could see a meter on the vehicle and that he was not the first in the area to be on the TOA system.  He also referred to the picture of the private hire vehicle sitting on the taxi rank.

 

MEMBERS’ QUESTIONS

 

The Chair asked Mr Franks if the meter he referred to was the orange light that appeared on the photograph.  Mr Franks advised the red lights were where the meter was and this was not the only vehicle in the area that had a wired taxi meter in a private hire vehicle.  The Chair asked Mr Franks to confirm the number plate of the vehicle in the picture and referred to the picture of the vehicle on the taxi rank asking him to confirm that this was correct.  He advised that the vehicle sitting on the rank was the only one of its kind in the area and that the Committee would need to take his word for it.

 

Councillor Trail asked Mr Berry to confirm if wheelchair accessible vehicles were normally called by telephone.  Mr Berry advised yes but some did come off buses and trains looking for a taxi on the rank.  Councillor Trail pointed out that they could call from a mobile phone.

 

Councillor Douglas sought clarification on whether a private hire vehicle could use a meter.  Mr McMillan confirmed that as long as there was an agreement with the customer at the start of the journey that the meter would be governing the fayre then there was nothing to prohibit the use of a meter.

 

The Chair asked if there was anything that specified the tariff and if a private hire car could run at a different tariff.  Mr Berry advised that it was the same tariff and that he was required to show a certificate during the taxi test to show what the tariff was.

 

The Chair sought clarification from Mr Berry on whether he would be using the vehicle solely as a wheelchair accessible vehicle.  Mr Berry replied that he would be using the vehicle as both a normal taxi and a wheelchair accessible vehicle.  Mr Berry added that he would be happy for the vehicle under the licence to remain a wheelchair accessible vehicle even if he changed vehicle.

 

The Chair asked if this meant that any further cars under this licence would be for a wheelchair accessible vehicle.  Mr Berry replied yes.

 

Councillor Trail asked if this meant that the car could be used as a normal taxi but if he changed the vehicle that it would need to be a wheelchair accessible vehicle.  He was told yes.

 

Councillor Taylor asked when Mr Berry referred to having a taxi licence and private hire licence if that meant he would have two vehicles on the road.  Mr Berry confirmed that he would have 3 cars on the road if his application was approved.

 

The Chair asked Mr Berry how many cars he had on the road at the moment to which he replied 3.  Mr McMillan confirmed to the Committee the licences that were currently held by Mr Berry.

 

The Chair asked Mr  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.