Taxi Driver Online

Having a good knowledge of the area to which you are licensed cannot but help the local travelling public. The vehicle requirements of a rural area will not automatically be suited to a major city, and vice versa. In short, a one-size-fits-all approach to licensing is not a sensible option going forward.

We already have a standardised approach to medicals and DBS checks, and we have the MOT as a minimum for vehicle checks. Having a statutory national set of rules and regulations will stop councils from having any control over the vehicles they license, and remove the flexibility currently allowed to amend local policies to suit local conditions and individual circumstances.

It also makes no sense to have a situation where locally elected Mayors will have control over all matters other than taxi and PHV licensing?

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IDFIMH

Licensed operators will express concern that more stringent standards will affect the number of new drivers entering the taxi and PHV trade. Whilst those same stringent standards will be welcomed by most licensing authorities and customers. Some councils whose licensing model is to license anything that moves will suffer a reduction in numbers, but that reduction will be alleviated in a positive way by drivers licensing in the areas they live.

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IDFIMH

An interesting piece from TaxiPoint offering suggestions on how to respond to the committee.

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/what- ... -presented

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IDFIMH

The simple answer is to follow what our friends north of the border do. Scotland doesn't have a cross-border issue, as it's unlawful.

A less simple answer is to allow councils, or even mandate them, to have an 'intended use' policy when licensing PHVs. It works very well in many areas where councils have an 'intended use' policy for hackneys.

In short, as I've said many times on TDO, the famous 'right to roam' mantra often purveyed by vastly overpaid KCs needs to be replaced by a 'no right to stay' provision.

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IDFIMH

It's all down to local licensing officials enforcing the local licensing trade, and that would include officials working outside of office hours.

A proper complaints procedure should also form part of the enforcement provision. It should also be a requirement that licensing councillors regularly observe out-of-hours enforcement.

I'm not sure what role regional transport authorities would add to the party, other than maybe adding an extra level of bureaucracy.

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IDFIMH

The so-called digital ride-hailing platforms have thrived by scouring the UK looking for the councils with the lowest standards, often run by officials who wouldn't know one end of a cab from the other. Companies like Uber are ensuring that many of their vehicles are licensed in those councils, even though those vehicles and drivers will never operate in those areas.

This has worked very well for those platforms that can bypass the higher standards set by elected councillors elsewhere, and has worked equally well for those officials who can guarantee their future employment despite never having to worry about the vehicles they license as they are working hundreds of miles away.

As an example, Chichester City Council license 28 taxis and 448 PHVs, yet undertakes no enforcement checks. That in itself is shameful, but it's worth noting that the vast majority of PHVs work outside of Chichester on the Uber app. So, despite Chichester scouping up 10s of 1000s of pounds in license fee money, it's the license holders in Brighton, Portsmouth, and Southampton that are paying for the enforcement of Chichester PHVs.

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IDFIMH

I suppose it's a bit of a lucky dip situation; in some areas where there is effective local enforcement, you will find that such complaints are dealt with in a very professional manner by properly trained officials. However, in many areas, there is no effective complaints procedure due to the lack of properly trained staff, who are often merely administrative staff.

Of course, dealing with complaints isn't easy when you have 1000s of vehicles working 100s of miles away from their licensing authority. CCTV would assist in helping those investigating complaints and helping drivers who have received false complaints against them. However, too many councillors think CCTV in taxis/PHVs is too much of an intrusion, despite CCTV being used in almost every council building in the UK.

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IDFIMH

It appears that once drivers are placed on the list, councils generally take note of it when considering new applicants.

The problem, as I see it, is that we currently have 300-odd different sets of rules that lead to drivers being placed on that list.

In many areas, the criteria for revoking or refusing a license is completely different from the area next door.

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IDFIMH

Whats the Scottish solution?

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

Never really looked into the nitty-gritty, but now it seems like I will have to unless one of the lads up there saves me the trouble.

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IDFIMH

I'm guessing it must be Section 21 of the 1982 Act.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1982/45

21Offences.

(1)If any person—

(a)operates, or permits the operation of, a taxi within an area in respect of which its operation requires to be but is not licensed or the driver requires to be but is not licensed, or

(b)picks up passengers in, or permits passengers to be picked up by, a private hire car within an area in respect of which its operation requires to be but is not licensed or the driver requires to be but is not licensed, that person shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding [F90level 4 on the standard scale].

(2)Subsection (1) above does not apply to the operation of a taxi or private hire car within an area in respect of which its operation or its driver is not licensed if the request for its hiring was received by its driver [F91(otherwise than in a public place from the person to be conveyed in it, or a person acting on his behalf, for a journey beginning there and then)] whilst—

(a)in the area or in that part thereof in respect of which its operation and its driver are licensed;

(b)engaged on hire on a journey which began in that area or part or will end there; or

(c)returning to that area or part immediately following completion of a journey on hire.

(3)Subsection (1)(b) above does not apply to the operation of a vehicle within an area in respect of which its operation or its driver is not licensed if there are in force—

(i)in respect of the vehicle, a licence under section 37 of the M5Town Police Clauses Act 1847 (licensing of hackney carriages) or section 48 of the M6Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 (licensing of private hire vehicles); and

(ii)in respect of its driver, a licence under section 46 of the said Act of 1847 (licensing of hackney carriage drivers) or, as the case may be, section 51 of the said Act of 1976 (licensing of drivers of private hire vehicles).

[F92(3A)Subsection (1)(b) above does not apply to the operation of a vehicle within an area in respect of which its operation or its driver is not licensed if there are in force—

(a)in respect of the vehicle, a licence under section 7 of the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998; and

(b)in respect of its driver, a licence under section 13 of that Act.]

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IDFIMH

I suppose that's kind of what I was getting at when I mentioned that the 'right to roam' doesn't or shouldn't lead to a 'right to stay'.

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IDFIMH

I think the Scottish system is basically what people are calling the ABBA rule as the solution to Wolverhampton etc - a car licensed in area A can do a run to area B, and go to area B to pick people up and bring them back to area A. But they can't work full-time in area B, because they're licensed in area A

But, basically, up here you can't routinely work doing pre-booked jobs outside your licensing area, whether HC or PH.

...in fact in Scotland I don't even think you can take a run outside your area and bring a run back unless it's been booked at that time, so you can't take a run outside your area and then wait in the other area for a run back to come in. I think that's why Uber have difficulty with Glasgow Airport runs, for example - the airport is in Renfrewshire rather than Glasgow City Council, so they can take runs from the city to the airport, but can't just wait there for a booking to come in. I think

There also seems to be some debate as regards whether you can be licensed in area A and go to area B to do a booking from area B to area C, but I've never really bothered looking into the nitty gritty of it all - around here it seems to work well enough, although in the likes of Glasgow there's a lot of debate about flouting the rules - but that's maybe the problem of a large urban area covering several different councils - thus maybe like Greater Manchester or Merseyside. In Scotland only Greater Glasgow is really like that - all our other bigger cities are quite discrete in terms of the populated area and the council area, like Aberdeen and Dundee, most obviously, and even Edinburgh

So I'd guess that an ABBA or Scottish-style system in England would be a lot messier in terms of practicalities and enforcement south of the border than it is up here, but I'm not too sure about the nitty gritty of how it would all work