Taxi Driver Online

Despite the fact that we are now all being licensed, some operators have already tried to cheat the sysstem by employing non-licensed drivers to do hospital and school work.

The GMB has been very successfull in getting the authorities to sort this out very quickly.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/d ... sp#P29_620

I like the bit where it says:

5. The Department accepts there is a considerable problem if certain operators are avoiding the requirement to be licensed. The definition of "private hire vehicle" in the legislation governing England and Wales outside London does not include the word "public". Indeed, the contract exemption provided for in the provincial legislation was deliberately left out of the London legislation on the basis that it had, over the years, become open to abuse.

In other words the 1976 Act is being abused up and down the country, thus the contract exemption was left out of the London Act. But we are not going to do jack [edited by admin] about all this abuse.

Well thank you very much.

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IDFIMH

So the Gov wish to close the 1998 London Act loop-hole and stop un-licensed vehicles doing contract work. But they don't see the need to stop the rest of England and Wales' un-licensed vehicles from doing like-wise.

So how long do you think it will take those currently doing the un-licensed contract work within the M25, from doing the self same work, but being based just outside the M25?

A few days, might even be a week.

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IDFIMH

Will hospital cars fall into this category?

The reason they are trying to close the London loop hole is because it's being abused mainly by un-licesened vehicles doing hospital account work.

The same could happen with school account work, which would really make a mockery of trying to make all London PH safe.
As for hospital work outside of London, the only council that appears to be trying to make them safe is Birmingham.
http://www.phtm.co.uk/media/1086610721.pdf page 2 and 3.

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IDFIMH

For those of us outside London, exactly the same applies and is enshrined in the Misc ProvsAct (the London Act does not apply to us).

In the Misc Provs Act, it states that Contracts of longer than 7 days are outside the scope of PH licensing.

Interesting though, our Counil already requires that the vehicles are licensed as either PH HC or PSV. So it doesnt happen around here anyway.

Or does it?