Petitions and Deputations (15 minutes, maximum 3 minutes per person)
To receive any petitions and deputations provided that no such petition is in relation to:
· Matters relating to individual Council Officers, or
· Matters relating to current or pending legal proceedings
Minutes:
Mr Chas Rodgers addressed the Committee. Mr Rodgers stated that private hire drivers continued to be engaged in unlawful procedures and practices and cited examples to support his deputation. Mr Rodgers was concerned that City Council staff did not differentiate between hackney carriage and private hire drivers by referring to both groups as ‘taxi drivers’ and that this encouraged the private hire drivers to conduct themselves as if they were hackney carriage drivers.
The Chair thanked Mr Rodgers for his deputation and confirmed that City Council staff were aware of the distinction between the two categories. The Chair further confirmed that the issues raised by Mr Rodgers would be investigated.
Mr Adrian Parsons addressed the Committee. Mr Parsons referred to new taxi rank arrangements which on a busy ‘Student night’ had resulted in hackney carriages and private hire vehicles queuing up together. Mr Parsons believed he had witnessed customers getting into private hire vehicles which had not been pre-booked.
The Chair thanked Mr Parsons for his deputation and asked the Officers to investigate his submission as a matter of urgency.