Licensing practitioners back national minimum standards for taxis and PHVs

September 24, 2012

Licensing practitioners want to see greater consistency and national minimum standards to govern taxis and private hire vehicles, the Institute of Licensing has said in its response to a Law Commission consultation.

After surveying its members, the IoL said: “There were varying views on what these standards should include, and mixed views on whether there should be any ability for local authorities to set higher standards locally.

“The main concern in relation to local standard setting was the fact that this would again lead to inconsistency and potential ‘licence shopping’ where applicants would look to the cheapest or less stringent licensing authorities but with the intention to work in another (more stringent) local authority’s area.”

The findings from the Institute’s survey included that:

58% of respondents were in favour of a single tier licensing scheme, while 41% favoured retention of the existing two-tier system;
78% agreed that the regulation of taxis and PHVs should not be restricted to any particular type of vehicle but should instead focus on road transport services for hire with the services of a driver;
87% agreed that public service vehicles should be expressly excluded from the definition of taxi and private hire vehicles;
91% said the concept of ‘plying for hire’ should be placed on a statutory footing;
70% agreed that the term ‘hackney carriage’ should be abandoned;
72% were in favour of the local authority having the ability to set local standards above the national minimum standards;
71% felt that local authorities should have the ability to apply conditions to individual driver and operator licences;
71% supported local authorities having the ability to combine areas for the purpose of local standard settings;
68% supported the ability for local authorities to create, remove or modify zones within their areas;
84% agreed that there should be no power for local authorities to restrict taxi numbers;
89% said licensing authorities should have the power to require vehicles to stop, although there was also support for the need for clear guidelines;
73% were in favour of powers being given to local authority officers to impound vehicles, also with clear guidance;
84% supported the introduction of fixed penalty notices to deal with more minor issues;
100% agreed that the right to appeal should be restricted to the applicant/licence holder. However, respondents were not in favour of re-hearing by the licensing authority. They agreed that appeals should be via the magistrates’ court, but were split over whether there should be a second level appeal to the Crown Court.

IoL President James Button, who chairs the Institute’s Taxi Consultation Panel, said: “Taxi Licensing is at the heart of local government licensing activity, and is bogged down with archaic legislation which does not accord with the modern world. It is therefore encouraging that the Law Commission has embarked on this consultation.

“As the Institute’s responses show, this is a complex area and there is not one obvious solution. However, the IoL membership and the Taxi Consultation Panel have made their views known and it is to be hoped that the outcome will be modern, practical law which will serve the public, trade and regulators for many decades to come.”

The Local Government Association, in its own submission to the consultation, recently said local should authorities should continue to enjoy the flexibility to set conditions above any minimum standards.

However, the LGA did back the idea of minimum safety standards for both taxis and PHVs.