Taxi Driver Online

Isn't it a bit strange that an act of parliament stipulates a maximum amount for a fee surely that would have to be rugularly changed to allow for inflationary factors


So in essence if our council is charging us £76 a year for our badge they are overcharging us £51 by virtue of the fact they didn't place a newspaper ad just sent us advanced notice of proposed fee increases to which we could object if we knew suitable grounds to object on. I would have thought that sending every license holder in the district a letter advising of proposed changes and they do state that you have 28 days to object would be a more effective method and would be in the spirit of the law ?

They don't have to advertise driver's badges as it's assume (often wrongly by councils) that only the cost can be recouped.

However why not FoI them and ask how much they spend on driver enforcement in terms of hours and cash.

Then ask them how they get that money, as it can't come from any license fees.

_________________
IDFIMH

Having read what the Minister said at the TSC, it appears what we believed to be the effects of the Guildford decision is accurate.

Norman Baker: Yes, loosely. I don’t come with any preconceptions except to say that I do accept that the arrangements are quite varied across the country and the legislation is quite archaic. There will be one or two recent judgments, of which you may be aware, which have in a sense altered the balance of what the Department previously thought was the case. There is the Stockton judgment in particular, obviously, but there is also the district auditor’s involvement at Guildford. So there are one or two issues where we have to look afresh at where we are.

It is also the case that the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, I think it is, is just generally more modern than the 1976 Act, which applies to the rest of England. The enforcement issue-the Guildford issue, Chair, that I referred to a moment ago-was a district auditor discovering that the enforcement provisions in the 1976 Act relate to vehicles but therefore not to drivers and operators, whereas the London legislation is not deficient in the same way. There are elements of the London legislation-

So where does that leave us?

IMO we should all be sending the FoIs I mentioned earlier, as clearly councils have no powers to charge us for enforcement of drivers or operators.

_________________
IDFIMH

The NTA has consistently stated elements of the London act should be encorporated into the 1976 act.

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

The main aim of this is the fact that Guildford Council haven't offered their cabbies a refund if there was any profit made out of the fees. By law they have to offer them back, whether it be, a new rank, another licensing officer or a reduction on plate fees.

The licensing departments are self funding, and aren't allowed to make a profit from our fees, this is in james buttons taxi law book

Which elements, Dear Leader?

_________________
Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

I would have thought the "cast iron" ones

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Received this e-mail back from the DfT in relation to the Guildford fees issue, and the effect it could have on other districts.

Alex

Thank you for your e-mail of 10 May addressed to the Transport Minister, Norman Baker, about the implications for taxi licensing authorities of the Guildford District Auditor’s decision. Your e-mail has been passed to the Department’s Buses and Taxis Division and I have been asked to reply.

As you say, the Minister highlighted the Guildford decision when he gave evidence to the Transport Select Committee. This is a case which would be taken into account in any comprehensive review of the legislation governing taxis and private hire vehicles. The Minister also said that he has asked to Law Commission to carry out such a review – and we await their decision. In the meantime, we would expect licensing authorities to be mindful of the Guildford decision when formulating policies which involve the setting of licence fees.

_________________
ʎɐqǝ uo pɹɐoqʎǝʞ ɐ ʎnq ı ǝɯıʇ ʇsɐן ǝɥʇ sı sıɥʇ

Simply the best taxi forum in the whole wide world. www.taxi-driver.co.uk