Taxi Driver Online

Licensing of vehicles as hackney carriages.

Each hackney carriage requires a separate licence which must, except in relation to an area to which Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 applies, be under the seal of the district council and must specify the name and surname and place of abode of every person who is a proprietor or part proprietor of the vehicle or person concerned in keeping or hiring it, the number corresponding with that to be affixed to the vehicle and such other particulars as the council thinks fit.

A requisition for a licence, in such form as the council provides, must be made and signed by the proprietor or one of the proprietors, as the case may be, and must give those details required to be recorded on the licence.

The licence must be made out by the proper officer of the council and entered in a register which is to be open for inspection by any person, without fee, at all reasonable times, and is to contain spaces for recording any offences by the proprietor, driver or conductor of, or any person attending, the vehicle. Notice of any change of abode must be given within seven days, and the licence must be produced for the necessary changes to be endorsed on it.

A district council for an area to which the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 applies may attach to the grant of a licence of a hackney carriage under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 such conditions as the district council may consider reasonably necessary. Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, a district council may require any hackney carriage licensed by it under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 to be of such design or appearance or bear such distinguishing marks as must clearly identify it as a hackney carriage. Any person aggrieved by any conditions attached to such a licence may appeal to a magistrates' court.

A licence for a vehicle normally enures for a year from its date, or until the next annual licensing day, where one is fixed, but it may be granted for any less period specified in it.

The grant of a licence for a vehicle may be refused for the purpose of limiting the number of hackney carriages in respect of which licences are granted, if, but only if, the person authorised to grant the licence is satisfied that there is no significant demand for the services of hackney carriages (within the area to which the licence would apply) which is unmet.

2 The licence attaches to the vehicle and not to the proprietor and, therefore, when the vehicle changes hands, the new owner is entitled to have his name and address entered on the licence and in the register: R v Weymouth Borough Council, ex p Teletax (Weymouth) Ltd [1947] KB 583, [1947] 1 All ER 779, DC.

A proprietor of a hackney carriage in respect of which a vehicle licence has been granted by a district council must notify the council in writing of the name and address of any person to whom he transfers his interest in the vehicle within 14 days after the transfer: see the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 49(1); and para 1076 post. Failure to do so is an offence: see s 49(2); and para 1097 post. The reference in the text to a licence is to one under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 s 37 (as amended) for a hackney carriage to ply for hire within the prescribed distance: As to the charging of fees for the grant of licences see the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 70; and para 1086 post. Where s 70 is not in force in a district, the council may charge a fee by virtue of the Transport Act 1981 s 35(3). As to hackney carriage licences which may be granted.

5 s.41 A licensee who ceases to be one of the proprietors is entitled to have his name removed: Hodges v London Trams Omnibus Co (1883) 12 QBD 105, DC. As to the transfer of licences see the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 49.

6 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 s 40. It is an offence when applying for a licence for a hackney carriage or an omnibus to include in the requisition the name of any person who is not a proprietor or part proprietor or is not concerned in the keeping or hiring of the vehicle, or wilfully to omit to specify in it truly the name of any person who is a proprietor or part proprietor or is concerned in the keeping or hiring of the vehicle: see s 40. A person guilty of such an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale: s 40 (amended by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 ss 38, 46).

9 s 44. It is an offence for a licensed proprietor of a hackney carriage or omnibus, on changing his abode, to fail duly to give notice of the change or to produce the licence for endorsement: s 44. A person guilty of such an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale: s 40 (amended by virtue of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 ss 38, 46).

14 See s 47(3); A local authority can appeal as an aggrieved person against the decision of justices to allow an appeal against the authority's decision to revoke the licence of a hackney carriage driver: Cook v Southend Borough Council [1990] 2 QB 1, [1990] 1 All ER 243, CA.

17 See the Transport Act 1985 s 16. See generally the Department of Transport Circular 3/85 (1985) paras 26, 27. As to whether a council may defer a decision on an application whilst it assesses whether there is unmet demand see R v Reading Borough Council, ex p Egan [1990] RTR 399n, not followed in Ghafoor v Wakefield Metropolitan District Council [1990] RTR 389; and R v Middlesborough Borough Council, ex p IJH Cameron (Holdings) [1992] COD 247. Decisions by licensing authorities not to limit the number of hackney carriage licences issued were upheld in R v Great Yarmouth Borough Council, ex p Sawyer [1989] RTR 297n, CA. In satisfying itself that there is no unmet demand a broader approach is legitimate: Stevenage Borough Council v Younas [1990] RTR 405n; R v Great Yarmouth Borough Council, ex p Sawyer [1989] RTR 297n. In considering an appeal against the decision of a council to refuse a licence on the ground that it was satisfied that there was not significant unmet demand, the Crown Court is entitled to take a different view from the council in deciding whether to exercise the power conferred by the Transport Act 1985 s 16: Cannock Chase District Council v Aldritt (28 January 1993) Lexis, Enggen Library, Cases File, DC.
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