Taxi Driver Online

A rare book review relevant to the trade - in fact, can't really recall any other book review on here

And it's rare piece from the Law Gazette as well...

And it's not so much a review - in my opinion, at least - than a summary of some of the main points of commentary made in the book.

But think I'll pass at £160


Still in the right lane

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/reviews/st ... 95.article

Button on Taxis: Licensing Law and Practice (fifth edition)

James T H Button

£160, Bloomsbury

In my review of the fourth edition, I referred to this book as the ‘taxi licensing law bible’. The fifth edition now runs to 2,000 pages and the hardback version is approaching the limit of portability, which is essential when moving around council and court hearings.

The book follows a logical sequence, explaining the licensing system for hackney carriage vehicles and drivers outside London, private hire vehicles, operators and drivers outside London, and the processes inside London.

The text explains the numerous alterations to legislation, case law and guidance since the fourth edition. The author notes that, while there have been significant changes to taxi licensing since 2018, the 2014 recommendations of the Law Commission on taxi and private hire services have still not been responded to by any government. Of 34 recommendations made by a Task and Finish Group in 2018, only three were taken forward (national minimum standards, national enforcement powers and a national licensing database). Many other recommendations made by the group have still not been addressed, which the author says shows a lack of resolve on the part of any government to address fundamental problems in the hackney carriage and private hire licensing system. These include the major issue of ‘cross-border hiring’ (allowing private hire vehicles and drivers to undertake pre-booked journeys in areas in which neither is licensed).

The author contrasts the lack of legislative progress in England with the position in Wales, where hackney carriage and private hire licensing is a devolved function. The Welsh government has produced a vision statement flagging its intention to ‘update Wales’s taxi and private hire vehicle licensing system fit for a modern Wales’, concentrating on safety, environment, equality and customer experience. However, he notes that timescales for introducing new legislation in Wales are now slipping.

The author considers the inexorable rise in the size and popularity of Uber and other national taxi booking services, which allow private hire and hackney carriage drivers to undertake work in areas outside the area where they are licensed. Alongside this, he notes that the hackney carriage trade is declining in many parts of the country, citing a move towards the use of apps to book journeys, rather than flagging down a taxi in the street.

New legislation is examined, including the Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Act 2022. This requires local authorities in England to record any refusal or suspension of a driver’s licence on the NR3S database and for all new licence applications to be checked against this database. Similarly, licensing authorities must now report any relevant information they have about a driver to the authority that issued the licence in England, Wales or Scotland, so that they can decide whether to take any action. The text also notes new and updated Department for Transport best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England and similar guidance issued in Wales.

In relation to taxi licensing case law, the author notes that ‘senior courts have been busy since the last edition was published’. The Court of Appeal decision in Hussain v Waltham Forest LBC confirmed earlier rulings that spent convictions can be taken into account when considering driver suitability. Updated case law in relation to costs on licensing appeals is also considered, alongside new decisions on what activities councils can recover through licensing fees.

Button has included his proposals for national standards for private hire licences, which have become known as ‘The Button Plan’. The plan suggests that one local authority in England and Wales could become the ‘principal authority’ to process and issue all private hire licences. This, he says, would lead to consistent national standards and deal with the significant problems caused by ‘cross-border hiring’. While the proposals only cover private hire vehicles, it is hoped that local authorities will consider taking them forward, which could happen without the need for any change in the law.

While this book is a comprehensive guide to taxi licensing law as it currently stands, the author remains frustrated by the lack of significant legislative progress in taxi licensing since 2018. Attempts to plug legislative holes with guidance rather than legislation are not considered to be satisfactory, which the author believes has resulted in an imperfect taxi licensing system that does not protect public safety.

This remains the essential textbook for those practising in this niche area of law. Whether dealing with taxi licensing, appeals or enforcement, on the applicant or authority side, it is an invaluable text.

Richard Williams is a gambling, licensing and regulatory partner at Keystone Law, London

Chances of all local authorities agreeing to that, which would be required for it to work? Approximately zero, I'd guess. Surprised it's still being punted

But a lot of what he says is interesting, particularly as regards the use of guidance rather than legislation etc. Maybe that'll change in the near future (at least in terms of how quickly these things work in politics), but didn't some of the stuff responding to the Casey report witter on about guidance and the like?

I think the Button plan has been completely surpassed by the Casey plan.

And thank f*** for that.

But should a legal reference book have its own legal suggestions? A case of the tail wagging the dog, methinks.

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IDFIMH

National Conditions for Private Hire Licences

There is a universal desire for national standards for private hire licences. This is not only from local authorities, but also from the trade, and safety groups.
Whilst these were promised by the last Government, and the current Transport Minister Simon Lightwood has expressed the new Government's intentions to examine the situation?. This still ignores one of only three suggestions from the Task and Finish Group which previous Government agreed to take forward.
That leaves a vacuum, where private hire vehicles "PHV" and private hire drivers ("PHD") licensed anywhere in England or Wales can undertake pre-booked journeys in areas in which they are not licenseds. Often, but not always, the local authority that issued these licences had lower standards, to some extent, than the local authority in whose are the activity takes place. This reduces the ability of local authorities in which such vehicles and drivers are working to protect users of private hire vehicles; it reduces the revenue available to those authorities to enforce against unlawful activity; it increases the difficulty for the licensing authority to ensure compliance by its licensees: overall it undermines both public safety, and public confidence in the private hire trade.
However, all is not lost. I not only suggest that a solution is available, i also believe it is possible for local authorities to not only address, but solve this situation by their own combined actions.
It is well known that one local authority licences a significant number of PHVs, PHDs and private hire operators ("PHO"). According to the Department for Transport (DfT) statistics for 2023, some 15% of PHVs licensed outside London were licensed by one particular local authority.
The reasons for this are irrelevant for the purposes of this article. Suffice to say that one particular local authority has an efficient and effective licensing system for private hire licences. They have good standards for drivers, vehicles and operators. Whilst these are not necessarily the highest set by local
authorities, they are a long way from the lowest.
PHVs and PHDs licensed by that local authority are working in many parts of England and Wales, with PHOs licensed by that authority either taking bookings directly, or undertaking bookings that have been sub-contracted to them by
"local" operators. At present this causes, at least, resentment amongst "local" licensees and their local authority, and at worst, public safety issues because passengers report issues to the "local" authority, not realising that they are not responsible for licensing that particular vehicle or driver.
All this can be overcome by allowing one particular local authority to become the national licensing authority for England and Wales. This could be agreed by all other licensing authorities in England and Wales. For this article, that particular local authority is referred to as the "principal authority" and the remaining local authorities are referred to as "outlier authorities".
This radical proposal is readily achievable using the current legislation.
As already stated, the law allows a PHO to advertise their services anywhere, accept a booking from a passenger located anywhere, and fulfil that booking provided the PHD and PHV are also licensed by the same authority that licences the PHO - the trinity of private hire licences.
If the only local authority that issued private hire licences was the principal authority, there is an immediate and automatic private hire industry controlled by the same (effectively national) standards.
Obviously, this would require significant co-operation between every local authority, but that could be co-ordinated by the Local Government Association (LGA). It would require local authorities to relinquish their direct control over PH licensees, but as will be seen, that would be outweighed by national safety standards and the removal of a local authority's requirements being undermined by other PHDs and PHVs. It would also require the principal authority to accept this responsibility and expand its licensing operation accordingly.
How is this possible within the current legislation?
Whilst the ability for a local authority to licence PHDs and PHOs is mandatory, the power to licence PHVs is discretionary®. Therefore, every outlier local authority could refuse to licence PHVs. As a PHO can only use vehicles and drivers licensed by the same authority that licensed the PHO, only a PHO licensed by the principal authority could fulfil a booking. Local PHO's could accept bookings, but would have to sub-contract them to a PHO licensed by the principal authority. It would remain to be seen whether there was a demand for locally licensed PHOs or whether the operators would move wholesale to be licensed by the principal authority.
Enforcement in relation to those drivers and operators licensed by the principal authority could be undertaken in every outlier local authority if the outlier local authority placed its officers at the disposal of the principal authority!, and they were then made authorised officers by the principal authority!!. This mechanism is already used by a number of local authorities and is recommended by the DfT in its "Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing best practice guidance for licensing authorities in England".
There are a number of local authorities which already allow vehicle tests to be undertaken at locations outside their local authority boundary, so the principal authority could utilise that approach across both England and Wales.
Outlier authorities could assess applicants and vehicles within their locality, saving applicants having to travel to the principal authority's offices. This would be by officers of the outlier authority acting under delegated powers from the Principal Authority.
This approach would significantly reduce, or completely remove PH licence income for all the outlier authorities. This could be offset in relation to enforcement against principal authority PH licensees by such costs being
recharged to the principal authority. All the costs could be legitimately recovered via the private hire licence fees. Under the ruling in in R (on the application of Rehman) v Wakefield City Council and The Local Government Association a local authority can recover the costs of enforcement against vehicles, drivers, and operators that it licences. As all private hire licences would be issued by the principal authority, any action taken by an outlier authority would be on behalf of the Principal Authority and therefore those costs could be recovered via the licence fees.
The economies of scale of the Principal Authority would benefit all licensees: licence fees would be reduced in many cases from those levels which are currently paid, for the benefit of the trade and potentially passengers.
This would also remove another frequent concern expressed by local authorities about their funding of action against licensees from other areas.
This is not a perfect solution, as it does not address hackney carriage drivers ("HCD") or vehicles ("HCV"). They would still be licensed by individual local authorities to stand or ply for hire within their respective local authority area (or hackney carriage zone in some local authorities) for predominantly local activity, but those HCV could still undertake pre-booked journeys anywhere i.e. outside their licensed area. However this is thought to be a small part of the current remote cross border hiring activity.
It is suggested that in relation to private hire licensing, this could work, and provide a solution to an enormous problem. It would be for the principal authority to determine the standards for its licensees, and the conditions which were then imposed. It is suggested that good, high standards already exist and could readily be used by the principal authority, if they are not already in place. Whether those would be acceptable to all the outlier local authorities who would be asked to relinquish direct control would remain to be seen. There is no reason why agreement could not be reached. That would be likely to involve some compromises: the highest possible standards might not be achieved, but this approach would undoubtedly raise the standards applied by many local authorities.
Local authorities which are not the principal authority may be concerned, and express that concern that this proposal would reduce their control over licensees. In many areas, where up to 50% of private hire vehicles and drivers undertaking journeys are licensed by authorities other than the one in which
they are geographically working, that control has already been lost. This proposal re-establishes control. Whilst the enforcement and regulation would be on behalf of the principal authority, outlier authorities would have control via officers authorised by the principal authority at no cost, as all costs would be recharged. Surely this is a better situation than many local authorities are currently experiencing?
There are practical difficulties involved here. There needs to be a concerted desire by local authorities for this to happen. Those outlier authorities would need agree this is a more desirable situation than the current one; they would need to be able to agree the common standards applied by the principal authority; they would need to accept their direct control would be reduced, but this would be with the acceptance of a satisfactory common standard being applied. Experience indicates this would not be easy, but is surely not beyond the wit of those involved. If there is enough will and determination, this approach could be achieved.
There is the question of democratic accountability. The proposal as outlined would remove any element of local democracy, because the only elected body involved in the national private hire licensing authority would be the Principal Authority.
I suggest that democratic vacuum could be overcome by estab oversight committee. This would be created as a joint board under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, and would have responsibility for ensuring that the principal authority maintained the standards detailed in its policy. The Principal Authority's policy would also have to be approved by the joint board. This board would be comprised of a councillor from each English region, plus one from Wales. They would be nominated by the outlier councils within their region or country and would serve on the joint board for 3 years.
This is not direct democracy in relation to the Principal Authority, but it does offer a democratic solution. Boards with appointed members make many decisions, principally as planning authorities in National Parks. That is seen as an acceptable approach and there is no reason why this would not be.
This will obviously reduce the direct effect of local voters on private hire licensing. Great play has been made over the last decade of private hire (and Hackney carriage) licensing being essentially local in character and the
government has promoted localism. In my view, the inability of local authorities to achieve even vaguely comparable standards for private hire licensing is actually a failure of localism. As a result, in this instance, I feel that a move away from localism in the interest of public safety would be justified.
There would naturally be concern about jobs if this plan comes into effect. In fact, this could have a positive effect on jobs. Outlier councils would still licence Hackney carriages, so there would be no need for a reduction in job requirements for that function. The existing requirements for enforcement in relation to Hackney carriage offences (e.g. vehicles and drivers standing or plying for hire outside the district in which they are licensed, and private hire vehicles and drivers doing the same) will continue to be required. In addition, those officers in each district will, acting as officers of the Principal Authority, be able to undertake inspections, checks and enforcement action on private hire vehicles and drivers. As this will all be funded through licence fees paid to the Principal Authority and then recharged, there is no reason why the should be any reduction in personnel.
As many district councils use councillors sitting on regulatory committees and subcommittees to determine many aspects of private hire licensing, their involvement could be reduced allowing outlier councils and councillors to use that limited resource in other ways.
In the Principal Authority, there will be a requirement for significant additional staff, to process a significant increase in private hire operator, vehicle and driver licences. This would lead to a large increase in secure permanent local authority posts at good salaries and decent working conditions. The advantage to the Principal Authority's area would be significant, because these jobs would be created and maintained at no cost to the council taxpayers within the Principal Authority, or indeed council taxpayers anywhere in England or Wales.
There would remain the issue of PH activity within Greater London. TfL might chose to become involved, but might not. In a way that might not be an immediate issue as London has its own legislation, and is to an extent a distinct PH licensing areal, but I would suggest that a truly cohesive system across England, Wales and Greater London would be preferable.
Would it be acceptable to the public? There is no reason why not. Generally speaking, passengers do not expressly demand a PHV and PHD licensed by a specific local authority when making a booking. Needs must that they will usually accept any vehicle dispatched by a PHO to fulfil their booking. A realisation that in many cases, safety standards would be enhanced should remove any concerns expressed by the public, although in some cases there may be reductions.
Turning to the practical aspects, how would this work in practice?
From a particular date to be identified, the Principal Authority would be in a position to grant and then issue private hire licences - operator, vehicle and driver. Existing licences issued by district councils would be cancelled once the new licence was issued, and over a short period of time all private hire licences would have been issued by the Principal Authority.
Private hire operators would be able to continue advertising their services in the areas in which they were originally licensed. If they wished to have a local office in their original districts, that would require an additional base to be added to their Principal Authority private hire licence. At present, the interpretation of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) A 1976 is that the operators base must be located within the district in which they are licensed'9. There is an alternative view that section 57(2) (b) (ii) permits a base to be located outside the district. As enforcement of an out of district base would lie with the district council within whose area it is located, assuming that that council was an outlier council as part of the Principal Authority arrangement, there would be no need to enforce in that situation.
Enforcement being discretionary.
From the point of view of the public, they would have the advantage of consistent standards of vehicles, and the security of knowing that whatever driver and was used to fulfil their booking, they would be assured of a consistent standard. That is demonstrably not the case at present when widespread subcontracting can lead to vehicles and drivers licensed by local authorities that have significantly lower standard than others being used to fulfil the booking.
As outlined above, ideally this would be agreed by every local authority in England and Wales. However that is not necessarily the case. If a small number of local authorities decided that this was an acceptable solution to the problem of cross-border hiring and enforcement, they could proceed. This needs to be agreed with the Principal Authority as they must ensure they have the capacity to licence those additional licences. There will always be some authorities who are not prepared to join such a scheme and will insist on retaining their own private hire licensing functions. They could continue to do so, and it will be a matter of economics for the industry to decide whether the advantages of local licensing outweigh the benefits of the licences available from the Principal Authority. For a lot of authorities though, this will offer a pragmatic and practical solution. If the process starts, it may well be that it will then have a domino effect with other local authorities seeing the benefits and appreciating that the disadvantages, which there are some, are outweighed by those benefits.
In my view, there has been far too much time wasted in discussing and debating how national standards can be achieved, with no progress. Such hand-wringing gets us nowhere. This proposal offers not only national standards at a stroke, but also national enforcement powers and consistent safety standards for the public. The recurring problem of a driver being refused or revoked the licence in one district yet granted it in another (despite the NR3S) will be removed, for the benefit of the trade as a whole and the public.
This can be achieved without the need for any central Government action, at no cost to local authorities, or any additional cost to the private hire licensees.
All it needs is for local authorities are prepared to grasp this nettle. If they are not prepared to do so they only have themselves to blame for the continued confusion and problems that result from different standards imposed by different authorities.

And the chances of the above happening in our lifetime is zero.

And I'm personally delighted about that.

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IDFIMH