Meeting Details

RESOLVED that: the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 6 November 2024 be confirmed as a correct record. 

The Committee received a report requesting that it consider the results of the consultation on the temporary suspension of the requirement for all licensed hackney carriage and private hire vehicles to meet the Eurocap 4 (petrol) and Eurocap 6 (diesel) emissions standards as contained within the current Policy.

Sarah White, Licensing Team Leader, attended the meeting to present the report and assist the Committee with its enquiries. The Committee heard that only 3 responses had been received to the recent consultation, and all were in favour of the proposed changes to the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy (the Policy). The Committee heard that the total number of vehicles which were non-compliant with the Council’s current Policy was 102, with 69 of these vehicles being private hire and 33 hackney carriages. Of particular concern was the fact that of those non-compliant vehicles, 13 had been adapted to be fully disabled accessible, and if the Committee chose not to recommend the proposed Policy amendments, these vehicles would be required to come off the road which would affect disabled customers particularly. The numbers of non-compliant vehicles had been falling over time as would be expected, and any vehicle presented for licensing as a new or replacement vehicle would be compliant with the Policy standards. It was anticipated that there would be significantly fewer than 102 non-compliant vehicles as the proposed deadline of 1 January 2027 for full compliance approached.

The Chair of the Committee confirmed that the proposed Policy amendment was to provide a period of grace for those vehicles which were currently licensed but not Policy compliant. The Licensing Team Leader confirmed that it was proposed that all currently licensed vehicles would be required to be Policy compliant from 1 January 2027.

A Committee member spoke in support of the proposal, noting that the original period of grace had been proposed until 2026, and that, following discussion, the Committee had suggested that this be extended until 1 January 2027. It was important that a common sense approach was taken to the issue, and that the fleet of vehicles licensed by the Council became more ecologically friendly, without disproportionately disadvantaging proprietors or the travelling public.

A Committee member was concerned about the potential impact on air quality of the proposed Policy changes, and the fact that the Council had not enforced its current Policy, issuing licenses to vehicles with higher levels of emissions than this Policy permitted. What was the risk to the Council if an elderly resident living near to the High Street suffered an asthma attack and sought to blame the Council for this, by claiming that the asthma attack had been caused by the emissions of vehicles which had not conformed to the lower emissions standards?

The Licensing Team Leader advised the Committee that the number of vehicles in question was relatively small when compared to traffic volumes in and around the city centre, and it would not be possible to measure the percentage of particulate emissions which non-compliant vehicles were responsible for over those vehicles which did meet the lower emission standards. On this basis, it was suggested to the Committee that the risk to the Council was negligible, and the number of non-compliant vehicles would naturally decline over time as vehicles were replaced.

In discussion, the Committee considered that the number of licensed vehicles in general was small compared to the volume of vehicles using Colchester’s roads, and that emissions from other vehicles, particularly commercial lorries and busses, would be by far the most significant contributor to poor air quality in the city. Although it was not possible to ever determine that there was zero risk, it was necessary for the Committee to take a rational and pragmatic view as far as possible to ensure that standards were raised in a timely manner. Officers were requested to constantly monitor those vehicles which remained non-compliant, and offer regular reminders to the proprietors to upgrade vehicles where necessary, as it was essential that the licencing requirements were clearly understood by all and complied with at the appropriate time.

The Licensing Team Leader confirmed that once it was known whether or not the Policy would be amended, the Licensing Officers would contact all affected proprietors to advise them of the position and ensure as far as possible that at the relevant date all vehicles were Policy compliant.

A Committee member noted that one of the responses to the consultation had suggested that grandfather rights be considered for all currently licensed vehicles, up until the age limit of 12 years, had this been considered by Officers? In response, the Licensing Team Leader advised the Committee that the issue of vehicle ages had been determined by the Committee at a recent meeting, and although in the past vehicles would not have been licensed after they were 12 years old, in fact there was now no upper age limit for a licensed vehicle. The issue here was that the Council’s licensing conditions applied to a vehicle when a licence was granted. Although it was common for the re-issue of a licence to a vehicle to be referred to as a renewal, in law there was no such thing as the renewal of a vehicle licence, and every licence was treated as a new grant. From a practical and administrative point of view it was helpful to describe these re-grants of a licence as a renewal as this was commonly understood, and, for example, the proprietor would retain the same licence number. to refer to this grant of a licence as a renewal. Therefore, each time a licence was granted, the Council’s conditions which were currently in force would be applied to it and it was not proposed that any further exemption from the Policy be granted. Officers would provide this explanation to the proprietor who had responded to the consultation.

RECOMMENDED TO FULL COUNCIL that:

The Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy be amended as follows:

1. The requirements contained within section 6.3 of the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy relating to vehicle emission standards be suspended for all vehicles which are currently licensed. Any vehicle which is presented for licensing after 1 January 2027 must comply with the following emissions standards:

- Euro 4 for petrol vehicles

- Euro 6 for diesel vehicles

2. Any vehicle which was presented for licencing as a new or permanent replacement vehicle at any time must comply with the following emissions standards:

- Euro 6 for diesel vehicles / Euro 4 for petrol vehicles.

3. The requirement for all new registrations in 2025 to meet Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), low emission or electric hybrid standard be removed from the Policy.

The Committee considered a report detailing proposed changes to the Council’s Scrap Metal Policy and which recommended the approval of this draft Policy to enable a formal consultation process to take place. The proposed changes were intended to improve the clarity of the Policy, and no substantial content changes had been made.

Sarah White, Licensing Team Leader, attended the meeting to present the report and assist the Committee with its enquiries. The Committee was advised that the legislation relevant to the Policy, the Scrap Metal Dealer’s Act 2013 (the Act), had not changed, and so a ‘light touch’ review of the Policy had been carried out to make it easier to read, and to attempt to provide a clear delineation between the contents of the Policy and Council procedure. If the Policy was approved for the purposes of consultation, the Committee was asked to determine whether it wished the consultation period to be 6 or 12 weeks.

A Committee member asked whether the Council was actively carrying out monitoring and enforcement of scrap metal dealers, including monitoring how the information they held was kept and managed? The Licensing Team Leader confirmed to the Committee that licenced scrap metal dealers were compliant with their conditions, and that overall the introduction of the licensing system contained in the Act had been successful. Figures for the whole of Essex covering the first 10 years of the scrap metal dealer licensing regime indicated that there had been a reduction of approximately 80% in infrastructure thefts, and although there had been a lower level of reduction in other forms of metal theft, the Act had been very successful in its aims. In terms of monitoring existing scrap metal dealers, this did not form a large part of the roles of Licensing Officers as there were very few licensed scrap metal dealers in Colchester. It was, however, hoped that once the amended Policy had been reviewed and approved this would allow Officers to carry out more pro-active enforcement of the regime. In response to a question from the Committee, the Licensing Team Leader confirmed that she was not aware of any prosecutions have been made in Colchester under the Act, however, she believed that authorities in the South of Essex had been more active in this regard.

A Committee member dealt with scrap metal dealers during the course of his business, and had not been aware of anyone who held a licence or who had been asked to provide proof of identification when buying or selling scrap metal, which was a requirement of the legislation. He had been the victim of metal thefts in the past and considered that there was a lack of enforcement of the regime, with stolen scrap metal easily sold and disposed of. Even if scrap metal dealers as for names and addresses as required, it was possible that dishonest people provided false details. The Licensing Team Leader acknowledged that more work was needed in this area, and Officers were keen to ensure that all scrap metal dealers and collectors complied with the legislation. Members of the Committee were encouraged to provide Officers with any information they had about potentially unlicensed scrap metal dealers.

In discussion, the Committee noted that proposed changes made to the Policy had served to reduce its length and make it easier to interpret and understand, which was applauded. The Licensing Team Leader confirmed that she believed that there were approximately 10 licensed scrap metal dealers in Colchester, however, issues with the Council’s database system meant that the records held would be the subject of careful verification. It was believed that unlicensed scrap metal dealers were operating in the area, and steps would be taken to address this. It was proposed that every scrap metal dealer in the Council’s system would be contacted.

The Committee was happy for the proposed draft policy to be the subject of a 6 week consultation, and the Licensing Team Leader confirmed that all steps would be taken to contact the holders of licences in the past and present as part of the consultation process.

RESOLVED that:

- The proposed draft Scrap Metal Dealer Policy be approved for the purposes of consultation with licence holders and other stakeholders for a period of 6 weeks. 

The Committee considered a report requesting that it approve its draft work programme for the current municipal year.

The Committee noted the changed to the proposed agenda for its next meeting, which were detailed in the Officer’s report.

The Committee wondered when the Council’s Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy (the Policy) would be presented to it, specifically in relation to the introduction of closed circuit television (CCTV) into licensed vehicles.

The Licensing Team Leader confirmed that Officers had been reviewing the entire Policy and that this review was close to completion. The views of the Chair of the Committee and the Group Spokespersons would be sought in the near future in relation to some elements of the Policy, it was hoped that the Policy would be referred to the Committee shortly, potentially at its meeting scheduled for 19 March 2025.

RESOLVED that: the contents of the work programme be noted.