Issue - meetings

JJ – Asked about more enforcement staff.

MT – Gave update on staffing levels.    5 Enforcement Staff.  8 One Stop Shop Posts.  He also stated that, according to informal finance calculations, there may not be enough income in the taxi licensing reserve account to pay for another member of staff but this was before the 2.4% inflation rise on all licenses next year.

TJ – Asked for the breakdown of cost of service, as we have more than 1,000 plus extra drivers than last year figures.

JJ – Agreed and asked does the trade need all the extra staff in the Bootle One Stop Shop?  The trade needs to see the costing to make sure they are getting value for service.  Can the trade have the figures from Finance or does he need to put in a FOI request?

MT – Said he will get costings from finance once the review is complete.

JM – Stated that his members were worried that the service at the One Stop Shop would be affected.  Will it be consolidated into one office and be move from Southport to Bootle, to save costs?

MT – Said there are no plans for this to happen.  He has a meeting with finance to discuss the cost and the 2.4% inflation increase on all licenses.  Also discussed a cost for knowledge test/application fee of around £40 - £50 per application, to cover more Enforcement Staff posts.

JJ – Asked if this was refundable?

MT – Said no.  It was to stop time wasters and 25% of no shows.  MT said that driver licenses were up by 33% and went through figures on sheet.

JJ – Asked again for full break down of costings.  Figures for everything under Avarto and what the cost will be under Sefton Council.  Stating it needs to be managed properly now it has come back under Council control.

MT – Agreed to speak with Finance.  Once Finance have released the figures and we have a summary of the accounts he will share with the Group.

TJ – Asked for a review on Operator Licenses.  As he stated this has not been looked at for some time.  Bigger Operators should pay more for the service based on fleet numbers.