IoL publishes guidance on suitability of applicants for taxi and PHV licences

The Institute of Licensing (IoL) has launched guidance to assist local authorities making decisions about the suitability of applicants and licensees in connection with taxi and private hire driver, vehicle and operator licences.

The IoL said the document – entitled ‘Guidance on determining the suitability of applicants and licensees in the hackney and private hire trades’ – considers how regard should be had to the antecedent history of the applicant or licence holder and its relevance to their ‘fitness and propriety’ or ‘suitability’. “This would include previous convictions but may also include other information coming to light for the licensing authority to consider.”

The Institute said its guidance could not have the force of legislation, new or amended; “the need for which is both abundantly clear to, and fully supported by the Institute and the other organisations working with it”.

The guidance can be used by local authorities as a basis for their own local policies and if widely adopted would achieve greater consistency so that applicants were less able to shop between authorities, the IoL added.

It acknowledged that consistency could not be fully achieved without the imposition of national minimum standards.

“Cases such as the exploitation uncovered in Rotherham and subsequently other areas, together with other individual cases have highlighted the importance of vetting and assessing potential licence holders and the potentially catastrophic consequences of inadequate vetting,” the IoL said.

“A level of consistency across the country would do much to ensure safety of passengers including children and vulnerable adults.”

The document was officially launched at the IoL’s Taxi Conference by President James Button and Stephen Turner, Chair of the working party responsible for drafting the guidance.

It was produced in partnership with the Local Government Association, the National Association of Licensing and Enforcement Officers and Lawyers in Local Government (LLG).

James Button said: “Hackney carriage and private hire drivers, operators and vehicle proprietors are responsible for public safety: in the case of drivers, on a direct, face to face basis. Passengers and others must not only be safe, but must also feel safe, and high standards of integrity must be demonstrated and upheld. These Guidelines are the result of over two years work by the working party, which recognised there was a clear need for up-to-date guidance to assist local authorities in determining whether a person was safe and suitable to hold a hackney carriage or private hire licence. They will enable local authorities to promote high standards, for the benefit of their communities and visitors, and will also assist in the creation of a more consistent approach across England and Wales. I would urge local authorities to adopt them.”

Stephen Turner said: “All local authorities need to be satisfied that the drivers, operators and owners of hackney and private hire vehicles are 'safe and suitable' in order to protect the public and in particular those who are vulnerable. This guidance which has drawn on a very wide pool of knowledge and expertise will help to deliver that protection and help to ensure that consistent, reasoned and robust decisions are made."

Tim Briton, National Licensing Lead for LLG, said: “The legislation and case law regulating taxis and private hire has, until recently, emphasised the inherently local nature of the regulatory control. Clearly local authorities are best placed to determine what is appropriate in their area and what issues they each face. The Deregulation Act 2015 drove a coach and horses through that local control, and councils now struggle with the influx of drivers and vehicles licensed elsewhere but working in their area. It cannot be right that a person who has had their licence revoked by one council can get licensed elsewhere by a council with a lower threshold for ‘acceptable’ criminal conduct. This guidance will go a long way to stamping out this practice, by providing a much needed national benchmark.

“The emphasis that a person’s safety and suitability is to be determined on matters wider than simply the length of time since they were last convicted of an offence is particularly helpful. The travelling public often place themselves in a position of vulnerability when they engage a driver’s services. They are entitled to place their trust in the authorities that regulate the trade. That trust should not be undermined by indefensible inconsistencies.

“On behalf of Lawyers in Local Government I wholeheartedly endorse this guidance.”