Taxi Driver Online

I suspect many submissions will say these vehicles don't need licensing, therefore the LC will have to listen to one side. I suggest they listen to mine.

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IDFIMH

I will ring the council tomorrow.

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I was done for drinking & driving, but it was 6 years ago.

Ask them what their policy is on that.

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IDFIMH

Not necessarily, if you're a personal/private chauffeur, where you are employed by the client (either self-employed/PAYE), where you drive their car, then no licensing of any form is needed (other than a driving licence, and being a named driver on the car's insurance. Wouldn't think cars and drivers used by embassies, and the Royal Family are licensed by the local authority.

Or if you're a company chauffeur, as roy says -


This is in my mind is what a proper "chauffeur" is.

There are plenty of upmarket private hire companies, who market themselves as "chauffeur" companies (particularly in London), where all they tend to do is charge a premium to customers for supplying a driver in a suit and an upmarket car. Nothing more than a glorified minicab service - I've heard of a "chauffeur" who drives a Citroen C5 (no offence to the Citroen C5 drivers on here!)

Anyone tells me that they're a chauffeur, I ask to look at their cap (and if they don't have one, then they're not really a chauffeur, as it's part of a chauffeur's uniform), and look at the cockade in the middle to see who they're qualified with. If it's made out of black plastic (rather than a silver steel one), it probably came with the cap when they bought it.

If the car is owned by the passengers (like her maj) and the driver is a PAYE employee then its not "hire or reward" obviously,

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

We don't need to confuse people with semantics.

Let's just quote the law, in this instance in relation to PH vehicles.

"private hire vehicle" means a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat [fewer than nine passengers], other than a hackney carriage or public service vehicle [or a London cab] [or tramcar], which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers;

So if the customer doesn't own the vehicle then someone else is providing it, thus the above is the law. Clearly the above can only be driven by a licensed (in the same area) PH drivers, and be fed work via a licensed (in the same area) operator.

Slightly different rules apply to licensed taxis, but the general principle that all should be licensed applies.

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IDFIMH

Para.1 and the reply is what I said in para.3 basically!

Well I have made some inquiries, but now more un sure than when I started.

I don't want to commit anything to the forum at the moment but it seems a bit odd the way things are set up.

No problem with the drink driving it was long enough ago, so thats good.

Thanks for everybody's in put so far.

Did you discuss this odd set up with the licensing officer?

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IDFIMH

apart from compying with the law and paying the same fees as all of us, whats the problem? a "special events" vehicle passed me today plated by my LA, a nice silver beemer, the only indication it was plated was a half-sized plate (half the size of mine) on the rear, no door signs, no rooflight, if your prospective employer needs avoid the law and a few hundred in fees to go legit, oh, and have drivers CRB+medically checked, you need to ask yourself why

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

I spoke to the licensing officer about what I would need to do CRB'etc, I would apparently even need to a get an NVQ within 12 months.

But when I told him the name of the company he became for want of a better word, evasive.

He claimed that he knew the company but they were covered by Scotland.

When I asked how could that be he mentioned the civic scotland government act, (i might have the exact wording wrong).

Must admit I am not sure how this works??

Basically the Scots Act and the English and Welsh Acts both have exemptions allowing drivers to work both sides of the wall. TBH it makes common sense.

However if you drive one of the Scots licensed vehicles you must also have a Scots drivers license. Having a local one is pointless.

All three licenses (driver, operator, vehicle) must match to make things legal, clearly the set up you are dealing with isn't, and the licensing officer and/or his bosses can't be bothered to ensure the law is upheld.

Steer clear and go and work with another firm.

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IDFIMH

Sussex I take your point.

But from my point of view I dont need to take a medical, have a CRB check, pay anything to get licenced, do a knowledge test, get an NVQ and I can start straight away!

They have a fleet of about 60 cars and absolutley loads of work with high profile blue chip companies so I would never be short of work.

Still not sure how they can be based in cheshire but claim to exempt from everthing using Scotland.

The contract exemption is still legal in Scotland.

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Grandad,