Agenda item

Report of the Group Manager for Environmental Health and Regulatory Services.

Committee considered a report which had been prepared following a request from a member of the public for pedicabs (rickshaws) to be licensed as hackney carriage vehicles in Gloucester.  Members were asked to consider the practical consequences of using this type of vehicle.  A pedicab had been available for inspection outside the Council offices prior to the start of the meeting.

Members were being asked to either agree in  principle to consider the licensing of pedicabs and the associated work entailed in developing a policy, or to recognise that licensing pedicabs in Gloucester City was not appropriate at that particular time. 

The report outlined the definition of a ‘Hackney Carriage’ and cited instances where pedicabs had been used elsewhere by other Councils.  Most schemes had failed because of lack of use apart from Herefordshire Council where they continued to be successful because of the creative approach of the licence holders who used the pedicabs for business use as well as tourism/taxi use.

Members were advised that a pedicab did not meet the Council’s current specification as a licensed hackney carriage as set out in appendices B and C to the report and that if Members wished to pursue this project that they would need to develop and adopt specific vehicle conditions for them to operate in Gloucester City.  The Council had the power to change its current policy to enable consideration of other types of Hackney Carriage Vehicles provided that this was approved by Full Council.  Members noted there was currently no Parliamentary legislation to control the provision of pedicabs.

It was noted that pedicabs could not meet the City Council’s licensing criteria in respect of wheelchair access and were not exempt vehicles under the Equalities Act 2010.

The Committee was advised of the issues it would need to consider should it be minded to approve the licensing of pedicabs and the fact that it was likely that external specialist legal advice on some aspects would need to be sought.  The report also set out the detailed work which Officers would need to carry out.  Any costs incurred in investigating the introduction of pedicabs would need to be recovered via the hackney carriage licence fees although this could be spread over 2-3 years.  Members were advised that in the event of the venture being unsuccessful, not all the costs would be recoverable.

The following points were discussed:-

• Members were interested in the proposal and felt it would be a good tourist attraction for the City.
• There were concerns that it was difficult to estimate the amount of officer time that would need to be invested in researching the project.  The Officers agreed to try to rationalise these.
• Horse-drawn carriages, motorised and non-motorised pedicabs would be evaluated.
• Officers would contact Herefordshire Council in order to learn from their experiences in setting a policy

RESOLVED

That Committee agreed in principle to consider the licensing of pedicabs in Gloucester City and agreed to devote resources into developing a policy for the use of pedicabs as hackney carriage vehicles if an appropriate and legally viable approach could be found.