Agenda item

Members asked questions of portfolio holders in accordance with Procedure Rules 8.1 and 8.2 as follows:

·         Councillor Rackley stated that he has recently heard that the taxi tariff has increased and having been a taxi driver for many years it is his understanding that the Council does not set actual fees to be charged and deals only with the maximum tariff. He asked Councillor Hoy for an explanation. Councillor Hoy stated that the Council sets the maximum amount that is allowed to be charged by hackney carriage drivers and they can charge less than that which she is aware a number of companies do. She stated that the Licensing Committee did consider the tariffs some time ago and set them following a consultation, this was discussed at the Cabinet meeting which took place earlier, however, an hour before the start of the Cabinet meeting, Councillor Patrick submitted a number of responses from taxi drivers who claim that they do not support an increase, however, she has not been able to verify those responses due to the short timescale. Councillor Hoy stated that the item will be deferred to a future Cabinet meeting and, therefore, the rise will not take place which, in her opinion, is disappointing. She added that she has read comments online which appear to state that she does not support hackney carriage drivers and that she favours private hire drivers, however, after today’s decision it is the hackney carriage drivers who are suffering because they cannot raise their fares whereas private hire can. Councillor Hoy stated that she will work with officers and write to all of the hackney carriage drivers detailing all of the facts in the letter in order to receive proper responses. She expressed the opinion that some of the figures that she has seen are incorrect and it is very important for the correct factual information to be provided and she stressed that the drivers can charge up that amount, but they do not have to.

·         Councillor Patrick questioned whether Councillor Rackley is still a hackney carriage driver, and whether Councillor Rackley should have declared an interest. The Chairman advised that because a decision is not being taken with regards to the taxi tariff at today’s Council meeting then the position that Councillor Rackley holds is irrelevant.

·         Councillor Patrick explained that Councillor Hoy has stated that the increase is not one of 50% which, in his view, is not totally correct. He made the point that whilst it may not be a 50% rise on the first mile travelled by a taxi, however, after that £2.20 and £3.30 is definitely an increase.

·         Councillor Hoy stated that is incorrect as on a 2-mile journey the increase equates to a 20% rise and a three-mile journey it is a 30% rise. She added that the system used for calculation is not a simple system and, in her view, it is a complicated methodology which is used. Councillor Hoy emphasised that it is a maximum amount which can be charged, and it only applies to hackney carriage drivers. Councillor Hoy stated that the 50% element only comes into force if the journey is more than 30 miles and if the driver chooses to charge the meter price.

·         Councillor Booth stated that he wished to raise the issue of the target times for processing housing benefit applications, with the figures quoted appearing to be the highest in the number of days taken to process applications that he can recall. He asked Councillor Mrs French if she can provide assurances that the time to process applications will be reduced significantly as in the past it has taken months to address a backlog? Councillor Booth asked for a regular monthly update to be provided, rather than wait for the next meeting of Full Council to receive the figures. He made the point that he does understand that the backlog has arisen due to the introduction of Universal Credit, however, he would like assurances that the delays can be overcome once the systems are put in place, as it does effect residents who have submitted claims. Councillor Mrs French stated that there have been a number of staffing changes at Anglia Revenues Partnership and steps are being taken to improve the time it takes to deal with applications. She agreed to ask officers to provide a monthly report to members going forward.