Taxi Driver Online

North-east operator gets ban for breaching conditions

The North East Traffic Commissioner, Kevin Rooney, has disqualified a restricted PSV operator after he “blatantly” ran a private hire business under his licence.

Leeds based property developer James Fleming gave assurances about his operation to Mr Rooney when he applied for the licence in 2012. But the regulator concluded this was a “sham” in the face of evidence from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) earlier this year.

Mr Fleming, who appeared at a public inquiry on 09 January and again on 12 February, is disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence until 28 March His licence has been revoked today.

The public inquiry came after Mr Fleming applied to increase his licence to two vehicles. A DVSA traffic examiner visited the operation to check that Mr Fleming was complying with the relevant conditions, including that separate fares were being charged to passengers and journeys were being advertised to allow members of the public a genuine opportunity to travel.

The TE reported there was no evidence of the operator complying with the conditions. Furthermore, Mr Fleming’s website offered vehicles as a whole, not by individual seats.

On 09 January, the operator attended a public inquiry before Mr Rooney and was represented by Bill Bowling of the National Limousine and Chauffeur Association (NLCA). However, this hearing was adjourned because Mr Fleming claimed that the traffic examiner had not understood the legislation.

At the second hearing, the DVSA officer was present. He told the Traffic Commissioner that bookings were made per head but this was a paper exercise as one person made the booking. He also added that job sheets showed the total price divided by passengers and said there was no evidence of journeys being advertised to the public.

Mr Rooney concluded that the traffic examiner clearly understood the legislation and had presented his evidence with confidence and authority.

During the hearing, Mr Fleming told the regulator that if a customer asked for private hire, he would pass it to a friend. He also advised that work had not materialised from Saga as originally proposed when he applied for the licence. He could not recall how many jobs had come from advertising on the NLCA website.

He was currently advertising in a local chip shop, Sainsburys and on the NLCA website.

Mr Rooney concluded that the operation was “very far removed” from that described to him in September 2012, when the application was examined at public inquiry. This included the proposed work from Saga – where individuals would be grouped together but paying separate fares. It was also noted that limousines and novelty vehicles would not be in operation.

A Lincoln Town Car stretched limousine was subsequently specified on the licence but the DVSA examiner said he found no evidence that this vehicle, or a four seat Mercedes car also on the licence, had complied with the conditions to be considered PSVs.

The Traffic Commissioner found that the operator’s website, in the name of Fairmont Chauffeurs, describes a conventional private hire operation. On airport transports, it tells customers that the vehicle will be there to greet them in the event of a delayed flight. When questioned about this during the inquiry – in the event of two passengers booking separately and one being delayed – Mr Fleming said there was an hour limit in the terms and conditions.

Reflecting on the case in his written decision, Mr Rooney said: “I put Mr Fleming on notice in 2012 that he could not operate a private hire operation. I am absolutely in no doubt that he understood what that meant. He said all the right things at the inquiry and Mr Bowling further asserted that Mr Fleming would be attending relevant training at the NLCA. That Mr Fleming has gone on so blatantly to run a private hire operation forces me to conclude that I cannot trust him to comply in the future. I further find that his approach in not raising concerns about the traffic examiner’s findings until he arrived at the public inquiry in January this year was a deliberate one to discredit that examiner and to present another fictitious case.”

The Traffic Commissioner added: “Complex though they may be, the different licensing regimes exist for a reason. One of the most significant differences is that private hire licensing requires drivers to be checked for criminal records to protect individual and small group passengers travelling in a small vehicle.”

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IDFIMH

I think your headline is a little unfair. The NLcA do know the law and Bill Bowling has gone out of his way to advise and represent members and non members for years. I was at meetings where it was explained to operators what they had to do to comply with the legislation but this operator has clearly been telling the NLcA and VOSA one thing and doing something else.

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Grandad,

Why did he go to the Public Inquiry with the naughty boy?

Was he assisting him in his efforts to make an apple turn into an orange?

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IDFIMH

Like I said, I think he was telling VOSA and Bill Bowling one thing and doing something else. At the meetings that I went to, Bill was spelling it out exactly how it should be done and this was agreed with VOSA. This chap didn't follow the rules and got caught out.

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Grandad,