Taxi Driver Online

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Licensing of Hackney Carriages and Private Hire Vehicles, their drivers and Operators.

Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.
Section 70 - Fees and Charges.


Enquiry submitted under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Information requested from the Council to allow Nigel to consider the current scale of fees and charges by reference to the costs chargeable by the Council to the Cost Centre(s) covering the licensing of Taxis.

I ask the Council to provide the following information at the earliest opportunity:-


a) Please provide 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.

b) Please provide a copy of the financial estimates for the operation of the Taxi Licensing function for 2008/09.

c) Please provide details of the number of vehicle licenses, driver licenses and operator licenses the Council envisages issuing in the current year.

d) Please provide a copy of the Job description of each member of staff wholly or partly employed in the carrying out of the vehicle, driver and operator licensing function. For staff not wholly employed on such activity please advise the percentage of time charged to the taxi and non-taxi activity in their job descriptions.

e) Please advise details of the staff and management structure in respect of taxi licensing.

f) Please advise details of staff costs charged directly to the licensing account
NB. I only request details of the posts and the aggregated total annual forecast cost including all Employer’s on-costs.




g) Please provide a copy of the Subjective Cost Centre(s) Budget(s) for taxi licensing activity showing the estimated costs and income for 2008/09 against each relevant nominal ledger code. Please also supply a copy of the year to date outturn to the last available accounting period and any forecast outturn for the current financial year.

h) Please provide details of how recovery of corporate overhead and any other indirect or apportioned charges are calculated for the Taxi Licensing Subjective cost centre(s).

i) Please advise, under the Council’s Constitution and scheme of delegation, which
Cabinet member(s) and Officers have responsibility for the determination of the
Council’s policies and practice in respect of any matters relating to its powers
under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and The Local Government
(Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

They have been walking over you for yrs,its time to stand up,if you dont want to be popular then dont moan,its better to do it through an association,I assume you have one,or you could form one.Or put the request in a friends name if your scared. I made an error with the date on b) it should be 2010/11
Which council are you licensed with?
perhaps taxi driver online can request the info for you
i dont mind chipping in a fiver for a good cause

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.

Can anyone tell me if any of these cases specifically related to taxi licences please? If so, the case name would be greatly appreciated.

I am currently challenging my local authority over 'profiteering' from our fees.

Can anyone tell me if any of these cases specifically related to taxi licences please? If so, the case name would be greatly appreciated.

I am currently challenging my local authority over 'profiteering' from our fees.

Involve the District Auditor, he will know the law on licensing fees & covering costs only.

That's what we did in Brum many years ago & had a rebate into the licensing fund of £368K if my memory still serves me correctly.

Thanks Brummie Cabbie and Captain Cab for your prompt replies.

Having done extensive research I haven't found such a case so I guess it's time it was put to the test eh? If it's good enough for street traders then it's good enough for us!

I'll report back in due course. Don't hold your breath though. This will take a long time I'm sure!

Can anyone tell me if any of these cases specifically related to taxi licences please? If so, the case name would be greatly appreciated.

I am currently challenging my local authority over 'profiteering' from our fees.

The wording of lgmpa 1976,s 70(1)c clearly envisages the inclusion of the costs of enforcement,and subsequent legal proceedings, as being part of the costs relating to the vehicles themselves.This will cover enforcement of the provisions against both licensed vehicles and unlicensed vehicles.The costs of enforcement for hackney may be different from the enforcement costs in relation to private hire.It is less clear whether the costs of enforcement in relation to operators licences,can be included in the fee,as the wording appears to limit the use of that section to vehicles themselves.the overall effect of the provisions within the act,in respect of fees for licences would appear that,in relation to drivers,the costs of issue and admin can be recovered,in relation to vehicles the costs of inspection,ranks,control and supervision and the admin connected with it can be recovered.In order to be able to justify a fee under the act it will be necessary to be able to differentiate between the two provisions.This will mean that there must be at least two identifiable accounts relating to the fees levied under each section.

It wont get to court I assure you.

As Brummie suggests, a letter to the district auditor may suffice, research the fees in your surrounding local authorities, as the questions that man city fan has suggested.

If they are excessive, the auditor should help.

CC