Members of South Ayrshire Council’s Community Safety Committee have instructed the Officers from the Council’s Licensing Section and the Council’s Fleet Transport Manager to produce draft guidelines for the licensing of special events vehicles.

Currently special events vehicles, such as limousines, that operate within South Ayrshire are not licensed. Under Civic Government regulations the Council can decide to licence such vehicles that can be occupied by up to eight passengers, but any vehicle that accommodates more than eight passengers requires a public vehicle license, which is outwith the remit of the Council.

The Scottish Government is working on the preparation of Best Practice Guidance on Taxi and Private Hire Licensing but it is not yet available. In the meantime, the Executive has written to all local authorities indicating that they should proceed to address the issue.

Councillor Hugh Hunter, the Convener of the Council’s Community Safety Committee said: “The two types of vehicles which need to be considered are limousines and decommissioned emergency vehicles, such as fire engines and ambulances. At present the Council has a policy of not licensing any vehicles over six years of age as private hire vehicles and if this policy was to be maintained the majority of decommissioned vehicles would not be accepted for licensing.

“There are also safety issues to be considered as many limousines have been ‘stretched’ abroad, not custom built, and they are imported into this country and the checks made on them are limited.”

Officers from the Council will consult with the trade when producing the draft guidelines and once they are complete a report will be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee for their consideration.

December 2006