Taxi Driver Online

Taxis and private hire vehicles - regulation

Taxi-cabs (“hackney carriages”) are a highly regulated market, and have been since Victorian times (or earlier – some controls were first imposed under the Stuarts). Private hire vehicles have been regulated since the 1970s. There are distinct legal systems for London, Plymouth and the rest of England and Wales; and different systems for taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles. Outside London, local authorities are the licensing authorities for both taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles. In London, licensing is now the responsibility of Transport for London. Licensing authorities regulate the quantity of taxi-cabs and the fares they can charge, and, for both taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles, the quality of services, including the safety of vehicles and the fitness of drivers. Drivers and vehicles must be licensed, and, in respect of private hire vehicles, there must also be a licensed operator.

The first level of reform would be to reduce the sheer bulk, complexity and inconsistency of the regulatory systems. Central concepts like “plying for hire” have caused considerable problems in the past. There are pointless geographical inconsistencies on such matters as whether a taxi-cab driver needs a separate private hire licence, and whether the vehicle can be used for leisure purposes by its owner/driver. Secondly, there is a need to modernise to reflect technological change – private hire licensing, for instance, is posited on a geographically fixed operator with premises where bookings are made. Finally, the fundamental features of the regulatory system are in need of reconsideration – the separate systems for taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles, the identity of the licensing authorities, the number and nature of licenses and whether all forms of regulation are still necessary.

This project engages economic and regulatory theory. It will be fundamentally deregulatory, in the sense that it will seek to question the necessity for the various strands of the current regulatory regime, and seek to reformulate those that are necessary in the light of modern understandings of the most efficient and efficacious forms of regulation.

The taxi and private hire vehicle market had an annual turnover of above £2.2 billion in 2003. It is likely that a modernised and simplified system of licensing will reduce the costs of the licensing system to both local authorities and market participants themselves. However, the realisation of these potential savings would depend on decisions to be taken on the key regulation reform issues which will constitute the substance of the project.

We expect the project to take three years, with a consultation period in thesecond half of 2012.

The project will require close working with the Welsh Government, which is
responsible for local government generally and for transport facilities.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/docs/lc330_eleventh_programme.pdf

(Starts para 2.72/page 20)

For the record, the other piece (posted earlier by CC on another thread) is as follows:

Taxis and private hire vehicles - regulation

Status: The consultation for this project is due to open in June 2012

We are reviewing the existing framework of taxi and private hire vehicle regulation with a view to preparing proposals for consultation.

Taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) are an important part of local transport. They operate in highly regulated markets where safety and quality control are paramount. Licensing covers key areas such as the quality of services, the fitness of drivers, fare regulation and restrictions on the number of licenses issued.

The current law on taxis and PHVs has been criticised for being complex and outdated.

One problem is the multiplicity of legislation. Taxis, which can “ply for hire” so customers can stop them in the street, have different rules to PHVs which can only be pre-booked. In turn each of the taxi and PHV trades is regulated by multiple statutes. There are also different legal systems along geographical lines distinguishing Plymouth, London and the rest of England and Wales. Whereas some distinctions are clearly justified others are less clearly so.

Some of the legislation, particularly relating to taxis, is archaic. The key statutes date back to Victorian times and refer to “hackney carriages” when taxis were literally horse-drawn vehicles. Case law and guidance are indispensable in interpreting the law. This also makes the legislation less able to reflect more modern technology like the telephone, internet and GPS technology.

The project

The project examines the legal framework relating to taxis and PHVs with a view to making it simpler and more modern. We aim to publish proposals for reform in June 2012. This will be followed by a three month consultation period where we invite the public to respond to our proposals. We plan to publish a final report with our recommendations and draft bill by mid-2014.

http://www.justice.gov.uk/lawcommission/areas/taxis-and-private-hire-vehicles.htm

We're doomed, we're all bloody doomed!!!

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

Sounds then same as this one;

The Law Commission
(LAW COM No 330)

ELEVENTH PROGRAMME OF LAW REFORM

TAXIS AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES – REGULATION

2.72 Taxi-cabs (“hackney carriages”) are a highly regulated market, and have been since Victorian times (or earlier – some controls were first imposed under the Stuarts). Private hire vehicles have been regulated since the 1970s. There are distinct legal systems for London, Plymouth and the rest of England and Wales; and different systems for taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles. Outside London, local authorities are the licensing authorities for both taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles. In London, licensing is now the responsibility of Transport for London. Licensing authorities regulate the quantity of taxi-cabs and the fares they can charge, and, for both taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles, the quality of services, must be licensed, and, in respect of private hire vehicles, there must also be a licensed operator.

2.73 The first level of reform would be to reduce the sheer bulk, complexity and inconsistency of the regulatory systems. Central concepts like “plying for hire” have caused considerable problems in the past. There are pointless geographical inconsistencies on such matters as whether a taxi-cab driver needs a separate private hire licence, and whether the vehicle can be used for leisure purposes by its owner/driver. Secondly, there is a need to modernise to reflect technological change – private hire licensing, for instance, is posited on a geographically fixed operator with premises where bookings are made. Finally, the fundamental features of the regulatory system are in need of reconsideration – the separate systems for taxi-cabs and private hire vehicles, the identity of the licensing authorities, the number and nature of licenses and whether all forms of regulation are still necessary.

2.74 This project engages economic and regulatory theory. It will be fundamentally deregulatory, in the sense that it will seek to question the necessity for the various strands of the current regulatory regime, and seek to reformulate those that are necessary in the light of modern understandings of the most efficient and efficacious forms of regulation.

2.75 The taxi and private hire vehicle market had an annual turnover of above £2.2 billion in 2003. It is likely that a modernised and simplified system of licensing will reduce the costs of the licensing system to both local authorities and market participants themselves. However, the realisation of these potential savings would depend on decisions to be taken on the key regulation reform issues which will constitute the substance of the project.

2.76 We expect the project to take three years, with a consultation period in the second half of 2012.

2.77 The project will require close working with the Welsh Government, which is responsible for local government generally and for transport facilities.

Indeed, it's the same text as in my first post

Well it looks like being a fun filled three years ahead of us.

There will no doubt be winners and there will be losers.

My first thoughts are the losers will be the plate-holders in about 25% of licensing authorities.

But I could be wrong.

_________________
IDFIMH

I would hope that the winners will be HC plate-holders in about 75% of licensing authorities and PH plate-holders in 100% of licensing authorities.

Together with a provision to have 'Managed Growth' in both trades.

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

did I misread that or was the reference to geographical fixed operator a suggestion that they might abolish the need to be licenced within the district you operate which would enable national PH firms to emerge with centralised call centres

That worries me a little because it could lead to companies like arriva and stagecoach operating PH services out of stations from which they run the trains and I can well remember some of the tricks they got up to muscle other bus operators out of their way

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

That is an option the big operators want, but most of the trade doesn't.

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IDFIMH

Would that be most of the taxi trade don't want this. Having spoken with several ph drivers they don't seem to see what difference it would make to them or the way they work

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

Perhaps they need to look at the bigger picture.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

In my opinion most of PH drivers wouldn't want it.

If we take a look at the two big boys up north, the one in Sefton is akin to slave labour, and the one in the Newcastle area trawls the North East to get cars and drivers operating at the lowest level of standards.

So if the future for PH drivers is earning f*** all driving sheds, then I'm not too sure that appeals much.

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IDFIMH

You've gotta be taken the pi$$, most ph drivers only see the bigger picture on their 50" screens at home

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

I did point out to the drivers about Delta and the fact that if they get a firm grip of the Wirral, which they are endeavouring to do, they would be earning less per mile than they currently are and doing less jobs per hour. Imo Delta are akin to the Kwiksave policy of stack it high and sell it cheap and it works because the higher majority of users are from the low income bracket and they don't mind 'no frills' service

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!