Taxi Driver Online

Licences for drivers of hackney carriages.

No person may act as the driver of a licensed hackney carriage unless he has obtained a licence from the local authority to do so.

If Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 applies in its area, the council may not grant a licence to such a driver (1) unless it is satisfied that he is a fit and proper person to hold a driver's licence; or (2) to any person who has not for at least 12 months8 been, and is not at the date of the application for a driver's licence, authorised to drive a motor car.

The licence, for which there is a fee, must be registered by the proper officer of the council. It must be delivered to the proprietor of the vehicle and be retained by him whilst the licensee remains in his employ; and it must be produced by the proprietor if he is summoned to answer any complaint or to produce the licence. It must be returned forthwith to the licensee if he leaves his employment without having been guilty of any misconduct. If he has been so guilty, the proprietor must retain the licence and forthwith issue a summons to have his cause of complaint determined. Every licence granted by a district council under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 to any person remains in force for three years from the date of such licence or for such lesser period as the district council may specify, and must be produced for inspection at the request of any authorised officer of the council or a police constable.

3 s 46. It is also an offence to employ unlicensed drivers: see s 47; and para 1073 post.

6 The initial consideration by a local authority of an application under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 59 (as amended) (see notes 7–10 infra) for a hackney carriage driver's licence is a proceeding before a judicial authority within the meaning given in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 s 4(6). Accordingly, spent convictions may be admitted in evidence by virtue of s 7(3): Adamson v Waveney District Council [1997] 2 All ER 898.

7 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 59(1)(a). 'Driver's licence' means, in relation to the driver of a hackney carriage, a licence under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 s 46 (see the text and note 3 supra): Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 80(1).

8 A person who has held a licence for 12 months in the past, and does in fact hold a licence at the date of the application, is entitled to qualify, notwithstanding that there is no continuity between the periods: Crawley Borough Council v Crabb [1996] RTR 201.

9 For the purposes of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 59(1) a person is authorised to drive a motor car if: (1) he holds a licence granted under the Road Traffic Act 1988 Pt III (ss 87–122) (as amended) (not being a provisional licence) authorising him to drive a motor car; or (2) he is authorised by virtue of s 99A (as added) or s 109(1) (as amended) of that Act to drive in Great Britain a motor car: Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 59(1A) (added by the Driving Licences (Community Driving Licence) Regulations 1996 SI 1996/1974, reg 5, Sch 4 para 2(1), (4), (5); and amended by the Deregulation (Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles) Order 1998, SI 1998/1946, art 3).

10 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 59(1)(b) (amended by the Road Traffic (Consequential Provisions) Act 1988 s 4, Sch 3 para 16(3)). A district council may require an applicant to submit to it such information as it reasonably considers necessary to enable it to determine whether a licence should be granted and whether conditions should be attached to it: Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 s 57(1). It may require an applicant to (1) produce a medical certificate stating that he is physically fit to be the driver of a hackney carriage or omnibus (see s 57(2)(a)(i)); and (2) whether or not such a certificate has been produced, to submit to an examination by a registered medical practitioner selected by the district council as to his physical fitness to be the driver of a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle (s 57(2)(a)(ii)). Any applicant aggrieved by the refusal of a district council to grant a driver's licence on the ground that he is not a fit and proper person to hold such a licence may appeal to a magistrates' court: see s 59(2); and para 1088 post.

11 See the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 s 46 (amended by the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 s 1(6), Sch 6 para 1). The fee payable is such as the council determines: s 46 (as so amended). As to fees for vehicle operator's licences see para 1086 post.

13 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 s 48. It is an offence for a proprietor to neglect to obtain delivery of and to retain the licence of each driver and conductor in his employ or to neglect to produce it when required to do so: s 48. 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). If a driver is found guilty of an offence, his licence must be endorsed: s 48. As to the standard scale see para 29 note 3 ante. As to the failure by a proprietor to retain or produce a licence see para 1073 post. The licence is the property of the licensee and the proprietor must not make endorsements on it: Hurrell v Ellis (1845) 2 CB 295; Rogers v Macnamara (1853) 14 CB 27; Heath v Brewer (1864) 15 CBNS 803; Norris v Birch [1895] 1 QB 639, DC.

14 Town Police Clauses Act 1847 s 49. If the justices find that the licence has been improperly retained they may order its return and award compensation: s 49.

18 'Authorised officer' means any officer of a district council authorised in writing by the council for the purposes of Pt II (as amended): s 80(1).

19 See s 53(3). The licence must be produced either forthwith (s 53(3)), or, in the case of a request by an authorised officer, at the principal offices of the council before the expiration of the period of five days beginning with the day following that on which the request was made (s 53(3)(a)), or, in the case of a request by a constable, before the expiration of that period at any police station which is within the area of the council and is nominated by the driver when the request is made (s 53(3)(b)). Contravention of s 53 without reasonable excuse is an offence: see s 53(4); and para 1078 post. As to the office of constable see police vol 36(1) (2007 Reissue) paras 101
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