The Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 2 June 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

The Action List was considered and updates were given as follows:

·       SWT signage at Eastleigh Station – Station makeover was now complete. AS commented that at night-time the side gate was used and passengers were seeing the PH vehicles and not the HC rank the other side; signage was needed to direct customers to the rank. DA advised that the Council would take this up with SWT.

·       Ageas Bowl – Regular meetings continued to be held in February and the Licensing Team would organise the 2016 one shortly.

·       Hilton Hotel, Ageas Bowl – A number of issues have been raised by the trade in respect of parking on 1 Day Internationals and T20 matches with the hotel over recent weeks. The Hilton had verbally suggested a meeting back in February of this year. SE visited Ageas Bowl in October 2015 in respect of the firework display to be held in November this year and discussed the issues above and a meeting and walkabout of the Ageas and Hilton will be arranged for January 2016. DA advised that the Licensing Team would write to the Hilton to formalise the meeting and he, officers and Forum Reps would attend during the day.

Other items were on the agenda.

Tracy Haskett, Senior Traffic Engineer, reported that at the recent Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice and Hound Local Area Committee, on 1 October 2015, Members considered the new waiting restrictions that had been proposed in Hamble Square, High Street, Hamble-le-Rice.  During the consideration of the proposals Members voted to not proceed with the proposals and asked that officers put forward suggestions for other locations for a taxi rank and bring these to a future Local Area Committee.

TH now proposed a number of options in Hamble Square car park, and several locations within it were considered. The Trade suggested two bays in the middle of the car park, away from residents but directly opposite Boomerangs, with waiting times limited to reflect the need of customers, i.e. 22.30 – 02.30 hours.

TH advised that the process would have to start at the beginning again with consultation with the parish council and residents, and then seek approval from the Local Area Committee.

With regards to the rank at Hedge End Station, the Trade preferred a single bay located opposite the disabled bay in the main car park. Again this would need to be taken through the consultation process and seek approval from the Hedge End, West End and Botley Local Area Committee.

TH was pleased to inform the Trade that analysis of the HCC casualty road safety stats over the last five years showed that there had only been 12 incidents with taxis in Eastleigh, compared to 47 in Havant and 35 in Gosport. Havant were now looking to introduce similar measures such as the Blue Lamp Course. DA said that the road safety stats were very good and the Trade should be very proud of their record.

Nicki Moorhouse reminded the Trade that Nicky Haytack from Barnardo’s had attended the previous meeting, giving a presentation  on safeguarding. The Licensing Team were to take this forward and NM had been looking into ways to do so.

During consideration, the Trade was adamant that any training should be undertaking voluntarily and felt that this was unable to be progressed further at this time because there were still no basic building blocks in place nationally.

NM stated that she would look at other providers and investigate further.

Nicki Moorhouse reminded the Trade that the De-regulation Act 2015 came into effect on 1 October 2015. A report would be going to Administration Committee informing of the changes in respect of the duration of a drivers licence now being for three years, and a Private Hire Operator’s licence will be issued for five year duration. The report will also include the increase in the fee for a Private Hire Operator licence to reflect the longer duration. The new fee will then go out for public consultation and will come into force early next year.

NM also brought up the matter of cross-border hire.  S.11 of the Act allows a Private Hire Operator licensed in one district to pass the work to an operator licensed in another district. They must make a note of the job and the name of the operator they passed the job too in their records. The subcontracted work must be passed to an operator and not direct to a driver.

Guidance had not been issued in respect of this to date, and therefore there had been a delay in getting the information to the Trade.

Test purchasing was still ongoing. The mystery shopper had provided good feedback on drivers used thus far. There was still some concern from the Trade regarding rides from Parkway to Southampton and it was agreed that the mystery shopper would continue to monitor.

KM reported that companies were doing their own mystery shopping in Southampton. NM said that she would contact them to see if it was something that Eastleigh companies would be interested in taking on.

Alan Singleton asked why missing paperwork was still happening. NM advised that the issue had now been addressed by using receipt books. SE reported that other documents such as MOTs, insurance, compliance, and log books could be emailed to the Licensing Team as the original of these would be seen at the time of plate renewal. Medical forms should be sent back to Licensing by the doctor.

This item was withdrawn from the agenda.

·       Alan Singleton advised that his position on the Forum was up for election this year and he would not be standing again as he was retiring after 24 years. DA thanked him for his contribution over the years and wished him well in the future.

·       B-Tech course – SE reported that B-Tech courses should be completed within three years of obtaining a licence; however many drivers had said they had been unable to fit it or find a suitable college. During discussion the Trade advised that along with some colleges charging fees, and others were not, the standard of course varied drastically and often very poor, as did time times that they were available i.e. not school holidays. The Trade suggested that a multiple choice test should be conducted in house.

KM asked why the course had to be taken anyway as 90 per cent of it was irrelevant for his drivers who did the same school run, in the same car, at the same time each day. SE advised that it was Best Practice Guidance from Government.

NM advised that she would contact colleges and look at what could be done.

·       Insurance – SE advised drivers to always carry copies of their insurance with them as Brokers did not always update the national database immediately and drivers had been caught out. Carrying copies proved that drivers were actually insured if the database said otherwise.

·       Christmas – NM advised that the office would be closed over Christmas so appointments around that time would be limited. The Council Offices will be closed on the 24 December 2015 and 1 January 2016.

·       Elections – CK advised that the Licencing Team would be sending out letters shortly regarding the LTF elections.

Up for election this year was Steve Lucas, Alan Singleton (who was retiring), Kevin May, and Siobhan St John.