Taxi Driver Online

Already gone. ...

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

This is a story about a man called Dave which is not his real name.He has used the name Dave to hide his identity because of the fear of being ridiculed again.Does anyone know his real name
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMWobyOa ... re=related

To put people off applying?

Or maybe to cover the true costs of dealing with the applications? (court costs etc)

Maybe both.
Fact is CEC charge more than twice what every other Scottish authority charge for the same thing.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

But surely the cost of the application should be basically that?

CC

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

But is it right to charge more than the basic costs involved in actually processing the paperwork and putting it before the committee?

If it really costs this much, surely that is down to the council's own policy to restrict and the legal costs involved defending it? (Which they are not obliged to do)
As this is allegedly for the good of the trade, surely the trade as a whole should be paying for it, not just the licence applicants?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

That wouldnt be right in England....yes I know its Scotland we're on about though.

I'm pretty sure in England it is the costs of processing the application, LA's cannot recoved the costs of possible refusal, I suspect that would be recovered further down the line by a general increase in proprietor license fees.

CC

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

The legal requirement in Scotland is just that the licensing regime be self-financing.

The individual fees are up to the LA. I don't see a problem where an initial application fee is greater than a renewal fee. It happens in many things.

It may well act as a deterrent which is good in a way. It reduces the amount of frivolous applications. All fees are non-refundable and again this stops some stupid people wasting everybody's time.

I'd be interested to know where you get that definition.


Nor do I.
A grant would cost more to process than a renewal. Not this much more though.
Most councils charge around £100 more for a grant compared to a renewal. How much more is CEC charging?



Or put another way, it deters people from exercising their lawful right to apply for a licence.
This seems to me to be the real reason for this exorbatant fee.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

Is their a specific piece of legislation covering this?

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

I think so......section 70 1976 Act;

70 Fees for vehicle and operators’ licences..

(1)Subject to the provisions of subsection

(2) of this section, a district council may charge such fees for the grant of vehicle and operators’ licences as may be resolved by them from time to time and as may be sufficient in the aggregate to cover in whole or in part—.

(a)the reasonable cost of the carrying out by or on behalf of the district council of inspections of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles for the purpose of determining whether any such licence should be granted or renewed;.

(b)the reasonable cost of providing hackney carriage stands; and.

(c)any reasonable administrative or other costs in connection with the foregoing and with the control and supervision of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles..

(2)The fees chargeable under this section shall not exceed—.

(a)for the grant of a vehicle licence in respect of a hackney carriage, twenty-five pounds;.

(b)for the grant of a vehicle licence in respect of a private hire vehicle, twenty-five pounds; and.

(c)for the grant of an operator’s licence, twenty-five pounds per annum;.
or, in any such case, such other sums as a district council may, subject to the following provisions of this section, from time to time determine.

(3)

(a)If a district council determine that the maximum fees specified in subsection (2) of this section should be varied they shall publish in at least one local newspaper circulating in the district a notice setting out the variation proposed, drawing attention to the provisions of paragraph (b) of this subsection and specifying the period, which shall not be less than twenty-eight days from the date of the first publication of the notice, within which and the manner in which objections to the variation can be made. .

(b)A copy of the notice referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall for the period of twenty-eight days from the date of the first publication thereof be deposited at the offices of the council which published the notice and shall at all reasonable hours be open to public inspection without payment. .

(4)If no objection to a variation is duly made within the period specified in the notice referred to in subsection (3) of this section, or if all objections so made are withdrawn, the variation shall come into operation on the date of the expiration of the period specified in the notice or the date of withdrawal of the objection or, if more than one, of the last objection, whichever date is the later..

(5)If objection is duly made as aforesaid and is not withdrawn, the district council shall set a further date, not later than two months after the first specified date, on which the variation shall come into force with or without modification as decided by the district council after consideration of the objections..

(6)A district council may remit the whole or part of any fee chargeable in pursuance of this section for the grant of a licence under section 48 or 55 of this Act in any case in which they think it appropriate to do so.

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

Gusmac.

The applicant pays a fee in England full stop.

I am not aware of any fee costing more than the amount usually paid by every applicant / existing holder. As the cost to process the fee is the same. Irrespective of if they are granted a license or not.

CC

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

Section 12 of the CGSA states

"12. Fees for taxi and private hire car licences.
A licensing authority shall charge such fees in respect of taxi and private hire car licences and applications for such licences as may be resolved by them from time to time and shall seek to ensure that the total amount of such fees is sufficient to meet the expenses incurred by them in carrying out their functions under sections 10 to 23 (other than section 19) of this Act in relation to such licences."

Note that only the TOTAL amount is mentioned. There is a fuller explanation which I only have in print that clarifies which licensing activities are financed like this and which are merely charged for a licence. I'll try to find the source online if I can.

Surely all of those who keep on finding faults with the system should at least make the effort to learn the legislation that they are challenging and be aware of the limitations of the HR legislation that they keep quoting.

It was me that asked.....not gusmac.

CC

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

You obviously can't read. No one mentioned HR, legislation with regard to licence fees.

Now please stick to the fanny forum, you'll feel more at home there.

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All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others.
George Orwell, "Animal Farm"