Taxi Driver Online

(Have posted new photos of the tyres at bottom of previous page, for what it's worth...)


Remember that this is how the likes of the local press and PHTM portrayed it all back then:


Then you get the likes of the fleet service experts telling councillors that you should be able to see tyre faults in daily walkround checks

Ergo, councillors and the public think you're driving round with something that can be seen just by getting out of your motor and glancing down, or whatever.

Same with likes of the illegal number plate thing. It's a tiny wee issue that if on a non-plated vehicle no-one would even notice, never mind do anything about it. But it reads like it some sort of huge scam with a registration issue, or whatever

(And, as I think I said previously, I think one driver did have properly illegal number plates - he'd bought personalised plates, and put them on his motor before they were properly registered with the DVLA as transferred to his car. But because it didn't happen during his taxi inspection, he's regarded as whiter than white in that regard )

So it's that time of the year again, and rather than being done on the usual rolling basis throughout the year, our annual inspections in the Fife (East) zone are all done over a period of around two months (other zones are done at different times of the year).

This is the email we're sent. Which is largely as per previous years, but with some new bits included to accommodate the new testing procedures etc

(I've redacted my personal and vehicle details, obviously.)


Dear Sir/Madam

Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982
Inspection of Licensed Vehicle(s)

In accordance with the provisions of Section 11 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, I hereby require you to present the undernoted vehicle(s) for inspection by the Council at Fleet Services, Cupar Trading Estate, Cupar on the date(s) and time(s) shown below.

Your vehicle(s) will be tested in line with the manual of guidance regarding inspection tests carried out on licensed taxis and private hire cars, which can be accessed at the link here: Manual of guidance regarding inspection tests carried out on Licensed Taxis and Private Hire cars

You might also want to view the MOT inspection manual, as a guide. This can be viewed at the link here: MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles - Guidance - GOV.UK

Following a decision taken at a recent meeting of the Regulation & Licensing Committee, a few new measures are now in place relating to annual inspection tests for all licensed vehicles in Fife, as below.

Please send an email to Misc.Licensing@fife.gov.uk or reply to this email confirming you have checked all items listed on the attached inspection test sheet for your vehicle(s) and complete the declaration form attached no later than 28th February 2026.

Please Note: No reminders will be sent. If the email and declaration is not received prior to your annual inspection test(s), your test(s) will be cancelled, and Licence Plates will be removed by Fleet Services until the vehicle(s) have passed the annual inspection test(s). As a result, your vehicle will not be able to operate thus reducing capability of income generation and quality of service to the public.

You should ensure your vehicle has been subject to a mechanical inspection test, prior to presenting for the Annual Inspection, and is in a fit state to pass the Annual Test. If your vehicle(s) fail(s) the annual inspection test(s) your vehicle(s) will have to undertake and pass an additional MOT test 6 months after the annual inspection test(s).

The cost of any additional MOT tests will be at your expense and should be carried out by an independent MOT testing garage.

The details of the additional MOT certificate(s) for the vehicle(s) that failed the annual inspection test(s) must be emailed to Misc.Licensing@fife.gov.uk within one week of the new MOT test(s). Failure to do so will result in the operator being instructed to return the licence plates to the test centre until the additional MOT certificate(s) is/are received.

Operators should contact the garage direct for any changes to annual test dates on 03451555555 ext. 441737.

Please note:-

1. Failure to comply with this Notice could result in the immediate suspension of your licence.

2. There is a £100 retest fee for any vehicle failing an annual inspection test and a £15 fee in respect of failure to attend your annual inspection test(s) on the date(s) given.

3. If your vehicle(s) fail(s) the annual inspection test you may have to wait for a re-test for your vehicle(s).

Vehicle(s) referred to:-

Plate No.

Registration

Make

Model

Date

Time of Test

N.B.1. This Formal Notice will apply to any vehicles substituted against the above Plates but it is essential that applications for substitutions must be in the hands of this office at least 24 hours before the date and time of the test.

N.B.2. Please ensure that the interior and exterior of your vehicle(s) is/are kept clean at all times and your fire extinguisher(s) is/are regularly maintained.

N.B.3. Please take your current MOT certificate with you when attending for test (all vehicles over 1 year old require an MOT). The tester will ask for this on arrival.

N.B.4. Please note that any CCTV equipment must be removed from the vehicle(s) or disconnected prior to the vehicle(s) being tested.

Miscellaneous Licensing

Fife House l Second Floor Main l North Street I Glenrothes l KY7 5LT

This is the letter attached to the email, which is in Word document format.

So basically we're supposed to reply to the email declaring that everything's been checked, and also return this letter declaring, er, that everything's been checked

The 'inspection test sheet' attached to the email and referred to above is the normal checklist of items we're given after the inspection is complete - pass or fail.



Operators - Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles: Declaration Form

At the meeting of the Regulation and Licensing Committee on 3rd June 2025, the Committee members agreed to introduce a number of measures relating to the annual licensed vehicle tests.

One of the measures was that all taxi and private hire operators licensed in Fife will have to complete and sign a declaration prior to their annual inspection tests confirming they have checked all items that are listed on the inspection test sheets issued by Fleet Services. If the declaration is not completed and returned prior to their annual test, their test will be cancelled and the operator will be instructed to return the licence plates to the appropriate garage until the declaration has been received by the garages and the vehicle has passed the annual inspection test. The declaration form is below:

Please ensure that you take the time to complete your declaration form correctly and that you double-check that the information you have provided is accurate before submitting.

DECLARATION

I am declaring that all taxis and/or private hire cars licensed to me either as the licenceholder or as a partner to the licence:

• Have been inspected in accordance with the inspection test sheet issued by Fife Council Fleet Services.

• Have been maintained to be roadworthy at all times while operating as a licensed taxi/private hire car

• Will be presented for testing by Fife Council Fleet Services in such a standard that it should pass the annual test inspection

I declare that I have completed this form accurately to the best of my knowledge.

Name:

Date:

Signed,

Mr F***ing Obvious

_________________
IDFIMH

Well, that makes no sense.

Do they ask the bus people to remove CCTV when buses are safety tested? Or trains? Or planes?

Or when licensed premises have their food safety checks, do the council say to remove any CCTV first?

Absolutely thick as pigs sh**.

_________________
IDFIMH

To be fair, Sussex, the CCTV thing isn't something that's really bothered me, at least not in the grand scheme of it all

In fact it's commonplace now for garages etc to require dashcams and CCTV cameras to be disconnected. The rationale for that seems a bit flimsy and far-fetched - security concerns such as possibly recording security codes, location of expensive tools and equipment, commercial confidentiality, GDPR stuff, blah, blah. But I suppose they basically don't want customers watching them doing the job, as per usual...

So I suppose the Fife Council garage takes a similar view, and in fact they also do MoTs for members of the public (on the other hand, I think you can ask to physically view an MoT being undertaken under the DVSA rules, provided this can be done without health and safety issues )

I remember first time I took my car to a garage with my dashcam fitted, and wondered why it wasn't working when I picked the car up. Thought they'd maybe damaged it in some way, so was getting ready to go back with it

Suddenly realised that they'd pulled the connecting wire out of the dashcam mount. So a great relief, and easy to reconnect

But why?

What have they got to hide that isn’t apparent in all those other checks?

In fact I would be more concerned that they do have something to hide.

_________________
IDFIMH

Are you not required to present your vehicle for its test with everything working to comply with council policy.

There's no CCTV requirement in Fife, Heathcote, so it's purely optional.

And I don't know if it's significant, but it doesn't say anything about dashcams, so maybe forward-facing cams are OK.

Anyway, it's not really a hill I'd be willing to die on as things stand. But if CCTV is ever made mandatory then it would be pertinent to ask why they can spy on us, but they don't like it the other way round

...and I meant to ask if anyone could spot the new bits added to the email this year, because there are a few clues. In fact, the paragraph highlighted by Sussex is definitely a new one:


...because the er, punctilious approach to adding plurals etc all over the place - vehicle(s), test(s) etc - isn't replicated in the new sentence

To be consistent it should surely read: "...your vehicle(s) will not be able to operate..."

So there are quite a few examples of that above, maybe indicating bits added on this year. On the other hand, there are bits that aren't new but don't follow the same protocol. If you want to be that meticulous then at least be consistent

Anyone like to suggest the meaning and significance of the highlighted point 2 above, particularly bearing in mind that it's in the context of the other new and more onerous requirements introduced last year for those failing the annual inspections.

As opposed to the existing process of waiting for a retest on their vehicle.

_________________
IDFIMH

Indeed, Sussex, and because I've got my test this week coming, I emailed the council to ask what precisely the new measure meant, since by definition you have to wait for a retest anyway, so presumably the new requirement must mean something more onerous.

I suggested that in effect it could be used as some sort of punishment, and to delay a retest for an indeterminate time for reasons unknown.

So I asked how this wait period would be quantified, and by whom, precisely.

The response was to basically say that there had been no change in procedures since last year.

So what was the new requirement no 2 above all about, precisely?

I mean, imagine if the DVLA announced this tomorrow:


It would presumably have to mean something. And I suspect there would be quite a few questions asked.

Anyway, guess who passed this morning?

So I didn't have to question staff about waiting for a retest, or whatever...

And no £100 restest fee for a 30-second check, or similar

But that latter point is another thing I emailed the council about. I mean, this is what the East Fife Taxi Association put to the council a few months ago:


Screengrab here:

https://eastfife.scot/wp-content/upload ... .59.25.png

But as far as I know the council never addressed the discrepancy.

Which is why I asked about it in my email last week. But according to the council, nothing to see here, and it's a blanket £100 retest fee, without exceptions