Taxi Driver Online

Anybody else had their council decide to put up both Hackney and PH vehicle fees by 250%.

You can pay substantially lower if you can find a cehicle in band a or b of the emissions grades. ButI can't see one that carries four passengers.

Any advice on fighting this?

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

I aint seen that type of increase for a while.

Your council will advertise the fee increase, object and maybe put it into the hands of the district auditor.

Has your council an emmissions policy? What discussion has there been between the people drawing up the policy and your licensing department, have you been consulted?

What are the pollution levels in your area? Can they be attributed to taxi numbers? Where are the things that record pollution located.....there is best practice on this.

Just a few thoughts.

CC

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

Thanks CC

Advert was placed this week (not very clearly).

Objection is being worded. Will mention district auditor in it.

The council refered to emissions policy when it introduced new policy last year. But they made no mention of size of increments.

Will ask about pollution levels.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

Strange one really......if the council were concerned about emissions then why wouldnt they consider age limits and suchlike?

Licensing fee's are put in place to cover the cost of the licensing regime, I understand this is their only charging power, it would appear your council are adopting a level of fees with an ulterior motive, even with the best of intentions. IMO its possibly illegal.

CC

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

Firstly object to the advertisement.

Hopefully they haven't advertised this, thus it's illegal.

Ask loads of FoI Act questions to find out exactly how much money the licensing section receives, and how much and on what it spends your money on?

Has the council done a 'best value' review?

Got to get the local press and MPs involved, especially as an election is coming up.

If your manor is red, then get the blues to say how they will boot it out after the election. If your manor is blue then get the reds to say this is what it will be like if the country goes blue.

In short you need to upset a few people.

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IDFIMH

Whats emissions got to do with licence fees.
Fees charged must be reasonable and no more than sufficient in the aggregate, in respect of S70, to cover the Council’s costs in whole or in part.

It has been established in a number of cases before the courts that a Council may not derive a profit or surplus from such licensing activity.

While the question of what is ‘reasonable’ can only be resolved by challenge, it seems clear that ‘costs’ charged to accounts to be recovered by licence fee income must be commensurate with the actual and necessary expenditure of human and material resources.

It follows that the Council must be able to demonstrate that those costs charged directly or by apportionment can be identified as being relevant and proportionate

Although a council has a statutory power to levy a fee this does not give it an absolutely free hand in relation to the scale of the fee that is levied.the impact of any increase upon the livelihood of those affected has to be taken into account,as does the scale of the increase.CONSULTATION must take place with interested parties,whether this is a statutory requirement or not, and results of that consultation must be considered by the council before the decision is made.it is important that any consultation is done fairly and the results considered properly by the council.ANY suggestion that the cosultation is a sham would be grounds for an application for leave to seek a judicial review of the final decision.
the judge in kelly v liverpool said although s53 contains no requirement for consultation, a local authority would be ill-advised not to embark upon some element of consultation with those persons who would be affected by an increase in fees (eg the drivers of BOTH hackney carriages and private hire vehicles).
Remember you only have28 days to object from the date on which the notice is first published.


I would also put in an enquiry under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.asking for a copy of any report submitted by Licensing officers to the Head of Function or any Council body to request authority to implement the most recently revised scale of fees.Also ask them to provide a copy of the financial estimates for the operation of the Taxi Licensing function.Also ask them to provide details of the number of vehicle licences, driver licences and operator licences the Council envisages issuing in the current year.Also ask them to provide a copy of the Subjective Cost Centre(s) Budget(s) for taxi licensing activity showing the estimated costs and income for that year against each relevant nominal ledger code. Also ask them to supply a copy of the year to date outturn to the last available accounting period and any forecast outturn for the current financial year. that should keep them busy, always remember they are not allowed to make a profit so you have a right to see where your cash is going

I would also be interested to have details of any ‘best value’ comparison the council has carried out in respect of its licensing functions and how it compares with the authorities it may have used as a ‘benchmark’

By virtue of the Local Government Act 1999 the authority is required to carry out such comparison

Here you are tom thumb copy this and send it in, it will give you time to get your info to object

Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 – S70
Fees for Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Vehicles.

Dear Sir,

We wish to OBJECT to the revised scale of fees and charges advertised recently.

Our ground for objection is that the fees to be charged by the Council are excessive and unreasonable in the context of the Act

We will be submitting a more detailed statement of the grounds for our objection shortly.

In the meantime I would be grateful if you could acknowledge receipt of this letter and advise the date of the Council meeting which will consider the Objection and what right of attendance and speaking rights will be available to us.


Yours faithfully,