Illegal Plying for Hire
Report of the Assistant Chief Executive Legal & Governance Services to the Strategic Resources and Performance Scrutiny and Policy Development Board 20/June/2005
Private Hire & Hackney Carriage Licensing
1.0 Purpose
1.1 To give consideration to policies and other matters relating to various aspects of and hackney carriage (taxi) and private hire licensing.
2.0 Background
2.1 The Scrutiny Board has agreed to consider a number of the Councils policies and practices relating to the licensing of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles and drivers and to submit any comments which it may have upon these matters to the Licensing Board (being the body responsible for all policy matters connected with the Councils statutory licensing role) for consideration.
2.2 Set out in this report is information relating to :-
“Out of town taxis”
The vehicle test centre
The length of the drivers licence.
3.0 “Out of town taxis
3.1 The legal situation.
National legislation sets out what taxis and private hire vehicles (phv’s) are allowed to do – it is not subject to local variation.
Taxis are licensed to ply for hire (pick up passengers from the street or from a rank that have not prebooked) but only in the area where they have been licensed. They can take passengers into districts other than where they are licensed.
Private hire vehicle drivers can only take passengers that have prebooked through a licensed private hire operator, they cannot ply for hire. Private hire vehicles can take passengers into districts other than where they are licensed. A PHV can pick up a prebooked passenger in a district where it is not licensed provided that the vehicle and the driver are licensed by the same Council as the PH Operator that took the booking eg. should you ring a PH Operator licensed in Penzance to book a PHV for a journey from Sheffield to Rotherham then it would be perfectly legal for that operator to fulfil the booking provided that the vehicle and the driver sent by the Operator were also licensed in Penzance.
3.2 Illegal plying for hire.
Illegal plying for hire occurs where the driver of a vehicle that is not licensed as a hackney carriage (in that area) acts as a taxi by picking up passengers from the street, or a rank, for hire or reward that have not prebooked.
Illegal plying for hire is of serious concern due to the potential consequences of this activity.
Vehicles that are used to illegally ply for hire are almost always not insured for that usage.
3.3 It has been suggested that there is a problem with “out of town taxis” working in Sheffield. There is rarely a problem with out of town hackney carriages working in Shefield.
3.4 There is a problem of illegal plying for hire, particularly by “out of town” licensed private hire vehicles. The problem is mainly in the city centre and mainly on weekend nights when demand for taxis and PHV’s is at its highest.
3.5 Increased levels of night time enforcement by Licensing Officers and additional licensed hackney carriages has seen a significant reduction in the incidence of illegal plying for hire. Before enforcement activity was increased there were very high levels of illegal plying for hire by Sheffield licensed PHV drivers, there are now comparatively few such instances.
3.6 Where evidence of illegal plying for hire is obtained a prosecution file is submitted. Obtaining evidence sufficient to secure a conviction against a driver is not straightforward. Currently 10 files are being processed by Litigation.
Information of suspected transgressors is shared with the neighbouring authority in which they are licensed.
3.7 Licensing Officers do not have the power to arrest suspects or to stop vehicles. Suspected offenders are not obliged to attend for interview. Obtaining evidence sufficient to secure a conviction against those who do not cooperate is difficult.
3.8 Joint enforcement exercises with the Police are undertaken and the additional powers available to the Police do greatly assist in the gathering of evidence against suspected offenders. Most illegal plying for hire occurs on Friday and Saturday nights when Police resources are most in demand and therefore the ability of the Police to release resources is at its most limited.
3.9 The penalties imposed by the Courts on conviction of an offence of illegally plying for hire do not seem to be a deterrent. In some instances the offender receives a conditional discharge and where fines are imposed they are usually less than £100. This is a matter I am to take up with the Magistrates Court.
3.10 While illegal plying for hire is an important issue there is much more to enforcement than this. Officers regularly undertake roadside vehicle safety checks, driver checks, operators record checks etc. Additionally there is a range of enforcement activity undertaken from the office eg insurance checks. Daytime as well as night time enforcement takes place but clearly a balance has to be made between out of office activity and the demands of the office based functions.
4.0 The vehicle test centre
4.1 All licensed vehicles are required to have a test at intervals of 4, 6 or 12 months dependent upon the age and past record of the vehicle. The legislation provides for licensed vehicles to be tested up to 3 times a year.
4.2 The test is called the “compliance test”. The compliance test is to a higher standard than the MoT test and it includes many matters relating to the safety, comfort and welfare of passengers that are not tested on the MoT. In respect of taxis a fare meter test is included. It is the compliance certificate that shows that the vehicle has been tested to the appropriate standard. The MoT test is an assessment of some aspects of vehicle safety at the time of inspection – provided it meets with the minimum legal requirement a part that is in imminent danger of failure will not result in a vehicle failing the MoT test. The compliance test takes account of the wear and tear that licensed vehicles experience and a vehicle that shows signs that a significant fault will occur in a relatively short period of time will fail the test. Currently a MoT certificate is issued in addition to the compliance certificate but it has little relevance to the licensing of vehicles.
4.3 Tests are arranged by the Private Hire & Taxi Licensing Section and conducted at the Councils test centre which is based at Staniforth Road. Should a vehicle fail to attend for a prearranged test then Licensing are informed immediately and action can be taken to suspend the licence, note for enforcement as appropriate.
4.4 Vehicle examiners are employees of the Council and are authorised officers of the Council. Should a vehicle fail the test with a safety defect or one which significantly affects its suitability for carrying fare paying passengers then the tester will suspend the licence thereby ensuring that it cannot be used for hire and reward until those defects are rectified.
4.5 All vehicle licences expire on the last day of a month and the vehicle is tested during the month that the licence expires. At the start of the month before a licence expires a test notice is sent to the licensee, this gives the licensee between 4 and 8 weeks notice of the test, plenty of time to prepare the vehicle. Those that require more than one test receive a similar notification period for the mid term tests.
4.6 Should a vehicle fail the test then the test centre is committed to offering a retest within 48 working hours of the request being made. In practice a retest is usually offered within 24 hours.
MoT test regulations require a full retest to be undertaken where failure is due to certain types of fault eg brakes. Where there are faults identified that do not require a full retest then only those fail items are retested.
4.7 Advantages of having one test centre in the direct control of the Council include
· years of experience in conducting taxi and private hire vehicle compliance tests,
· consistency in testing standards – this is particularly important in relation to the “non-measureable” elements of the test eg customer seating, door openings, condition of bodywork etc.,
· the ability to respond to changes in the testing regime as required by the Licensing Board,
· expert technical advice available to Officers, the Board and preparedness to attend court on behalf of the Council to defend appeals,
· impartiality,
· accountability,
· a close working relationship between testers, Licensing Officers and the Licensing Board which can be further enhanced with new technology,
· testers, as employees of the Council attend relevant training courses eg customer care to ensure that they are equipped to apply Council policies,
· the ability to stop unsafe vehicles from working,
· specialist equipment for conducting meter tests on taxis
5.0 The length of the drivers licence
5.1 The law permits a Council to issue a drivers licence for any period up to a maximum term of 3 years. It is the policy of Sheffield City Council to issue drivers licences for 18 months.
5.2 When an applicant first applies for a drivers licence they have to pass a number of “tests” – driving skills test, knowledge test, medical with the Police Surgeon and a criminal record check and driving licence check are also undertaken. On renewal applications a criminal record check is undertaken and the DVLA driving licence is inspected. Unless there is a need for an application to be referred to the Licensing Board for determination a licence can be granted under delegated powers.
5.3 As the result of criminal record checks usually taking a number of weeks, licences are often renewed on the basis of a declaration made by the applicant concerning offences and convictions recorded against them.
NB first licences are never granted before the criminal record check is received.
5.4 Licences can be suspended or revoked should there be good reason for doing so eg convictions during term of licence and/or not declared on application to renew a licence. There is a right of appeal to the Magistrates Court against a decision to suspend or revoke a licence. Where an appeal is lodged the driver can continue to work as a private hire/taxi driver until the appeal has been determined. Should the Magistrates Court dismiss the appeal then there is a further right of appeal to the Crown Court and during the appeal period the driver can continue to work as a private hire/taxi driver.
Due to the manner in which the appeal system works it is possible that a driver that the Council (and in some instances the Magistrates Court) considers not to be a fit and proper person to hold a licence will be legally entitled to continue working for many months after the suspension/revocation. In one instance a driver had his licence suspended 2 weeks after issue (later revoked by the Board), his appeal the Magistrates Court dismissed yet was still entitled to drive until his licence expired nearly 18 months later by virtue of an appeal lodged with the Crown Court that had not been determined.
5.5 When this subject was last before the Scrutiny Board (14/May/2003) a survey had been undertaken that showed that 6 similar sized Licensing Authorities granted drivers licences for 12 months. Of the 4 (smaller) Councils close to Sheffield, 2 grant licences for 12 months, 1 for 2 years and 1 for 3 years.
5.6 On each renewal application a criminal record check and a driving licence check is undertaken. The longer the period between renewals then the longer the period before offences are identified and appropriate action taken.
6.0 Financial implications
6.1 There are no financial implications to the Council at this stage.
7.0 Recommendation
7.1 That members consider the information contained in this report, representations made and the interest of the public and make such comments or recommendations as it appropriate for submission to the Licensing Board and/or Cabinet.
Liz Bashforth
Assistant Chief Executive Legal & Governance Services