A Blackpool taxi fleet owner has failed to have a licensing condition lifted following a council hearing meeting at the end of November.
The licence holder was in attendance and requested the Sub-Committee consider removing the conditions attached to the Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence which had been applied when it belonged to the previous licence holder - the mother of the current holder.
Regulator checks were requested by the council following a number of maintenance issues with the licence holders' taxis, which were said to be below the expected standards.
The authority evidence presented included a report detailing the results of various vehicle pit-tests for vehicles associated with the five licenses since 2017.
The licence holder explained that she had stuck to the conditions rigorously and added that she had made her expectations clear to drivers of the maintenance standards.
She claimed that some of the failed pit tests were attributable to minor defects which had included some emissions related results.
The Sub-Committee considered the inconsistencies of the results and reasoned that despite the imposition of conditions on the licenses, there was insufficient evidence that wholesale improvements to the maintenance regime had taken place and that if they had, a higher proportion of first time pit-test pass rates would have been expected.
Members felt that not enough time had elapsed with the conditions in place and concerns remained about reliance on drivers to burden most of the responsibility for vehicle maintenance.
The decision was made to not remove the current conditions attached to the five Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licenses on this occasion.
Image credit: Geograph - Phillip Halling
