·        

the recommendation included in the report was to not increase any of the Taxi Licensing fees for 2021/22 – having reviewed the accounts it was considered that the only fees to increase could be the Hackney Carriage Drivers Licence Fee however due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, it was proposed that a further year was allocated to balance the accounts by 2024/25 to assist the trade during this time and prevent unnecessary hardship to drivers;

·        

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the trade and was factored into future budget monitoring – these figures were being reviewed on a regular basis. Whilst the number of licences had dropped by approximately 8% for the Hackney Carriage trade (7% vehicles, and 9% drivers) and 11% for Private Hire (12% vehicle, 8% driver), there were a number of drivers who had a three year driving licence and the impact of Covid-19 may mean that drivers have found alternative work and may not renew their licences;

·        

on reviewing the administration time spent on the two trades, it was proposed that the split for this year would be 31% to Hackney Carriage and 69% to Private Hire;

·        

enforcement officer actions in the last financial year had been reviewed, and based on last year’s workloads, more time was spent on Private Hire than Hackney Carriage with a split of 60% to Private Hire and 40% to Hackney Carriage; this would vary each year and would be reviewed annually;

·        

as detailed in section 7 of the report, a number of savings had been made:

o    

the third Taxi Enforcement Officer, who left at end of November 2019, had not been replaced;

o    

one of the Technical Support Officers reduced to part time hours in April 2020 and the remaining part of the post had not been filled for 9 months;

o    

two officers worked in another department for several months as a result of COVID-19; another officer worked at another site for 3 weeks;

o    

the legal costs had been significantly reduced during this period;

o    

the trade accounts have not been charged for any time that Officers worked in other departments and all of this has been reflected in the forecast for the taxi accounts. 

·        

figures associated with direct debit costs and approximately how much that would equate to per application;

·        

the importance of consulting with the taxi trade;

·        

further details regarding staff savings in the report and clarification as to why the balancing of the account was being deferred until 2024/25 if savings were being made. It was noted that this date would be reviewed regularly.

1.

that there will be no increase in fees for 2021/22; and as a consequence:

2.

the Hackney Carriage Accounts will now be brought into balance by the end of the financial year 2024/25.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.