Taxi Driver Online

And you can’t transfer an operator licence.

You can here, apparently.

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Grandad,
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Yes, any business interests and related licences will become the responsibility of the deceased's executor following a death.

Looking around the internet the rule seems to be that the licence will continue for a specified period, giving the executor time to sort the deceased's business affairs out.

So if an operator's license is held by a sole trader then the business could be sold and a new licence granted to the purchaser, presumably.

If the operator's licence is held by a partnership or company then the licence will continue, presumably, and would simply require the local authority to be informed of the changes in ownership and/or directors and partners.

If it's a HC plate that's worth something then the executor will probably arrange the sale of that, and the licence would be transferred.

But whatever the precise details, I can't really see how the licensing laws would leave an ongoing business unlicensed in the event of a death - transitional arrangements will enable the business to continue as a going concern, and the licences dealt with accordingly.

In Scotland licences can't be transferred, so if it's worth anything then on death that value could disappear, although I think some councils will issue a new licence in place of the old one.

But that's why many HC license holders in Scotland set up companies as the licence holder. If they die then the licence doesn't need to be handed back because the company remains in existence. Of course, the council will have to be informed of any new owner or change of directors etc.

But that's what I can't understand about Uber in Sheffield - if the operator's licence is held by a company then Jo Betram's departure shouldn't be an issue as long as the correct procedures were adhered to.

So it could just be an administrative cock up, or the council is just playing silly beggars.

Sheffield Uber suspension lifted by city council

The suspension of Uber's licence in Sheffield has been lifted by the city council. It took the action last month after the company failed to respond to its requests. Uber said the correspondence had been sent to the wrong address.

The council has lifted the suspension following "productive discussions" and "satisfactory replies". The taxi-hailing firm had had until 18 December to respond or face being unable to operate in the city. Uber said: "We look forward to continuing to serve tens of thousands of riders and drivers in Sheffield."

The controversial loss-making tech giant had applied to change the name on its Sheffield licence on 5 October, and the next month the council licensing team sent a letter asking about its management practices. Uber said it never received the correspondence.

In a statement, the council said Uber had since replied to the questions it had been asked. A decision on the amended licence application will be made in early 2018.

In September, Transport for London decided it would not renew Uber's licence because of the firm's record over reporting criminal offences and carrying out driver background checks. The company also had its licence suspended in York after taxi drivers complained the city had become "overwhelmed" with Uber drivers.

City of York Council also said its concerns about a huge data breach - which Uber concealed from customers - had been a factor in the decision. No ban on Uber has ever come into force in the UK.

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IDFIMH

Reading?

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IDFIMH

aint it usually the responsibility of the licensee to inform of a change of address?

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Usually a condition of license, but hey it's Uber, do they worry about such things as licensing condition?

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IDFIMH

Maybe they did, but it ended up in the council's spam folder

Note that the letter from Transport for London to Uber said:





https://www.ltda.co.uk/assets/files/dow ... letter.pdf

Some stuff I noticed in Schedule 1 of the Scottish Act earlier, which is relevant to some of the discussion on this thread, and which I think confirms what I was saying back then

Of course, this doesn't apply in England, but I suspect the general principles are broadly similar, whether it's in the legislation, or local licensing rules:



http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45/schedule/1

(5) is maybe of most general interest, because it means you can apply for renewals on the last day of the month, and the licence remains in force until the council has either renewed it or otherwise formally dealt with it.

But that's why it's common here for drivers to have out of date badges and plates, because they can apply at the last minute, and it takes the council several weeks to process it.

In fact if you apply for annual plates and badges then I suspect you could easily have them showing an expired date 10-20% of the time

(Our plates show the licence expiry date rather than the vehicle test date.)

But surely applying for a vehicle license renewal is something that should be done on the day. Therefore having an old plate still shouldn't happen. Unless the plate making machine isn't working.

Or do some in Scotland apply before having their vehicle checked, and if so why do council license them?

I get the extension for drivers if something comes up on a medical which needs a more professional viewpoint, and if the DBS (or whatever they call it in Scotland) is slow to come back. But other than that I'm struggling to see why a license should be showing out of date.

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IDFIMH

When the Berwick situation was at its height there was vehicles running around the country with plates 6+months out of date and when Northumberland took control of licensing it did not improve the situation as plates were posted to proprietors.

So if the application is lodged Friday 4pm on the 31st of the month, how can all the checks and processes be completed? We can lodge it in the Cupar admin office (which doesn't actually directly administer licensing stuff these days) so it'll be a few days into the month before the licensing department in Glenrothes has even received the application, and it's only then they can set the Disclosure Scotland (our DBS) stuff etc in motion, and I'm not sure how long that takes.


There are certainly logistical issues which don't help. In the early days when we got the new Mogo plates, as I recall it they would make the transfer sheets up in head office, and then send them by internal mail to the testing depots. I also recall at one time you had to go to an admin office to collect the transfer, then take it up to the depot, who would then apply the transfer to the plastic plate. I think they've streamlined it slightly now, but to be honest I've kind of given up thinking about it now. In the early days I generally had the one-year licenses, so it always seemed a big hassle, but now I get the three-year ones, so it's just something I tend to forget about, since you only need a new plate every three years, and I tend to keep my cars longer than the average


Unless it's a new licence grant or vehicle substitution, our vehicle tests are all conducted at the same time (March/April) but the plate is dated in accordance with the licence expiry, which is independent of the inspection process.

So it's a bit like needing valid insurance and MoT to get a car taxed for a year - the insurance or MoT might have almost a year to run, or could be about to expire, but if it's valid at the time then they'll issue the car tax for a year.



Simply because it's administratively/logistically impossible to issue a new badge or plate on time unless the renewal is lodged a few weeks before expiry. I suppose they could issue a new badge or plate when the renewal application is submitted, but don't think that would actually accord with the law - the existing licence continues in effect until the new one is granted - so the existing plate continues in effect even though the expiry date has passed.

Not sure at all how long the Disclosure Scotland stuff takes - it all goes on 'behind the scenes', and isn't even mentioned as part of the application process, but must take a minimum of a week or two at least.

So you lodge the application at the last minute, it takes a day or two to even reach head office, they then set the Disclosure Scotland stuff in motion, then it comes back, they then send a letter out with paper licences and new badge, or send the plate stuff up to the depot - could easily take several weeks after expiry for all that to happen.

A few years ago the council started sending reminder letters stating that renewal applications had to be submitted a month before expiry, presumably to give them enough time to issue the new badges and plates before the expiry date.

But they stopped doing that - not sure why, but suspect someone pointed out that legally an application for renewal could be lodged right up to the expiry date.

I also suspect that another factor is that because the council knows that the badges and plates are inevitably going to show the wrong date for a spell then they're in no particular hurry to get them out.

For a vehicle license what are these checks and processes? Or do you in Scotland apply for renewal before you do the vehicle check?

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IDFIMH

Well that makes no sense whatsoever.

So you can have a license date on the plate when the vehicle is unchecked whilst still showing it to be licensed.

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IDFIMH