Taxi Driver Online

Would somebody kindly clarify the law regarding Local Authority inspections, please?

I am aware of a requirement to inspect vehicles annually but, I seem to remember a restriction on the number of spot-checks/additional inspections that can be carried out. Is there a limit, or am I living in cloud-cuckoo land?

Also, would the situation be different if the police instigated a 'swoop' on the ranks?

I'm sure the answer is here somewhere but I haven't been able to find it so far.

Any help/comments would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Yes

I would have thought that would be the first place to check.

Loads of cabs all lined up in a row.

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IDFIMH

The usual standard of useful replies, cheers lads!

Anyone else got a valuable contribution to make, please?

Don't get the hump chap, in my opinion it was a f**king stupid question.

Of course the council can check you and your motor whenever they like.

They have a duty to the people of your manor to make sure the taxi/PH trade is safe.

I wish more councils checked as much as yours.

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IDFIMH

Under which legislation do you make your statement of the council's powers in this respect?

Where have I stated the frequency with which my licensing authority carry out inspections of vehicles other than annually?

Is there a thread elsewhere that contains a sensible discussion of the legal points involved?

Please do me the honour of reading my questions again before posting, what I am sure will be, your considered reply.

Thank you.

Sec 68 of the 1976 (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act

Fitness of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles

Any authorised officer of the council in question or any constable shall have power at all reasonable times to inspect and test, for the purpose of ascertaining its fitness, any hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licensed by a district council, or any taximeter affixed to such a vehicle, and if he is not satisfied as to the fitness of the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle or as to the accuracy of its taximeter he may by notice in writing require the proprietor of the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle to make it or its taximeter available for further inspection and testing at such reasonable time and place as may be specified in the notice and suspend the vehicle licence until such time as such authorised officer or constable is so satisfied:

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IDFIMH

I could be wrong, but there is a maximum the LA can pull you for spot inspections in a year i think its in the LGMPA and its something like 4 times iirc.
As for the police i wouldnt think there would be a maximum.

Many thanks for that, Sussex.

It was a question that came up last night and I was convinced that there was only a restricted power. ie, twice a year or something similar.

Believe it or not, I'm actually pleased to have been proved wrong because, in my opinion, it is only by maintaining the highest of standards that we can keep the cowboys on their toes.

Thanks again.

1976 ACT.

50 Provisions as to proprietors (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 68 of this Act, the proprietor of any hackney carriage or of any private hire vehicle licensed by a district council shall present such hackney carriage or private hire vehicle for inspection and testing by or on behalf of the council within such period and at such place within the area of the council as they may by notice reasonably require: Provided that a district council shall not under the provisions of this subsection require a proprietor to present the same hackney carriage or private hire vehicle for
inspection and testing on more than three separate occasions during any one period of twelve months.

68 Fitness of hackney carriages and private hire vehicles Any authorised officer of the council in question or any constable shall have power at all reasonable times to inspect and test, for the purpose of ascertaining its fitness, any hackney carriage or private hire vehicle licensed by a district council, or any taximeter affixed to such a vehicle, and if he is not satisfied as to the fitness of the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle or as to the accuracy of its taximeter he may by notice in writing require the proprietor of the hackney carriage or private hire vehicle to make it or its taximeter available for further inspection and testing at such reasonable time and place as may be specified in the notice and suspend the vehicle licence until such time as such authorised officer or constable is so satisfied:Provided that, if the authorised officer or constable is not so satisfied before the expiration of a period of two months, the said licence shall, by virtue of this section, be deemed to have been revoked and subsections (2) and (3) of section 60 of this Act shall apply with any necessary modifications.

Regards

JD

Ah I now see where the confusion has arisen.

The number of official MOT/taxi tests can be no-more than 3 a year, whereas there can be as many spot-checks as is deemed required.

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IDFIMH

Thats right but I can see why no one replied to the original post because that particular information is already available on TDO.

Regards

JD

Yes, there's a lot of information on the site, but given that a lot of it is stored in an unstructured form (to put it as nicely as possible) then I think it's reasonable to assume that people may not be aware of its presence, or not be able to find it, particularly given the difficulty in using the search facility a lot of the time. Thus I think the oringinal query wansn't unreasonable.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Many thanks to all of you for your help in this matter and please excuse my tardiness in this acknowledgement of your assistance.

Kind regards.