Taxi Driver Online

Earlier this year we were amalgamated into one council from three smaller councils (well 4 if you count the County Council)

Anyway since april there have been quite a few changes which include a new 3 year Dual Badge which covers Hackney and Private Hire, and the implementation of colour zones which cover the old Hackney zones of the previous councils.

Chester (Blue) Zone
The Chester Zone (denoted by a blue triangle on the Hackney Carriage Licence Plate) restrict the colour of Hackney Carriage vehicles to black and only allow models previously approved by the Council's Licensing Board to be used.
There is no limit to how many people may apply for a Hackney Carriage Driver's or Vehicle Licence, however Vehicle Licences may only be issued for a brand new vehicle. For Health & Saftey reasons and to ensure ease of access for customers with mobility diffculties, the Council will only Licence Hackney Carriage Vehicle Models that have been pre-approved by the Cheshire West and Chester Council Licensing Board.


Ellesmere Port (Red) Zone
The Ellesmere Port Zone (dentoted by a red triangle on the Hackney Carriage Licence Plate) do not restrict the colour of Hackney Carriage vehicles, but only allow certain models to be used.
There is a limit to how many people may apply for a Hackney Carriage Vehicle Licence. For Health & Saftey and to ensure ease of access for customers with mobility diffculties, the Council will only Licence Hackney Carriage Vehicle Models that have been pre-approved by the Cheshire West and Chester Council Licensing Board.



Vale Royal (Green) Zone
The Vale Royal Zone (denoted by a green triangle on the Hackney Carriage Licence Plate) restrict the colour of Hackney Carriage vehicles to black and in order to make these vehicles easily recognisable to the public, only allow certain models to be used.
There is no limit to how many people may apply for a Hackney Carriage Driver's or Vehicle Licence, however Vehicle Licences may only be issued for a brand new vehicle. For Health & Saftey and to ensure ease of access for customers with mobility diffculties, the Council will only Licence Hackney Carriage Vehicle Models that comply with the Vale Royal Area Wheelchair Accessibility Policy



On the Private hire side of things there is a new policy which covers all areas.

The implementation of these new rules has resulted in some winners and some losers from the previous 3 sets of rules and fees.


http://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/business/licensing/hackney__private_hire_licence.aspx

How does this impact on you JDBubbles?

As I am Covered by the Blue Zone which was previously the most expensive for fees I am slightly better off. My badge used to be £82 annually and is now £165 for 3 years.

The zones mean that pretty much everything else stays the same for now.

One thing that has changed which is causing anger on the ranks is that under the new rules you can only plate a brand new vehicle and cannot transfer your existing plate onto another vehicle which was previously allowed. So if you have a 10 year old cab you cannot upgrade to a 5 year old cab, you have to buy a new one.

Is that strictly legal for the council/LA to do that?

All that will happen is that drivers will trade licensed vehicles between themselves to get the age of vehicle they want.

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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.

Thats a very good question, to my knowledge one of the Unions has told the Council that this cannot be done, indeed speaking to one of the L.Os in passing the other day he seemed to be equally unsure as to what was happening.
I changed my vehicle a couple of weeks ago from a "58" Nissan NX8 Voyager to an "09" Peugeot E7 LWB, I couldn't get the delivery date I needed for a new one so I agreed (after confirming with 2 L.Os that I could "plate" an ex demo vehicle) to take a 3.5 mth old demonstrator, when I arrived at the council to change the plate I was greeted with "there maybe a problem", in the event a plate was granted...............then a few days later we all received a letter telling us there was no longer transfer of plates............I took this to mean that plates could not be transferred person to person also.
I shall post agin when I have spoken to the Association and have an update on the situation.

If the council are saying that you can't transfer ownership of the license, then they are acting outside of their powers.

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IDFIMH

That is still a bit of a grey area at the moment as the letter actually says

After a recent query, we are now aware that there is no provision within the legislation to allow the transfer of a licence from one vehicle to another.
As a result, we feel that it is important to advise you that within the Chester Hackney Zone, should you require to change your vehicle, that it can only be treated as an application for a new licence. New licences only be granted to applicants who propose to licence new (at the time of registration) purpose built wheelchair accessible vehicle of a design and manufacture to be approved by the Licensing Authority.

I take it this new council has not read the best practice guidance
and are making it all up as they go along.
The Scottish traffic commissioner recently told our council to remove the zones as we came under 1 council.
are the fares the same in all areas now???? if they are the above must apply
They cannot impose the conditions requiring you to buy a new vehicle and they must stick to the letter of the law, there is a case on TDO somewhere I seem to remember it was a case from down south where the judge said just that, and your free to transfer licences

I think the council are making a mountain out of a molehill.

When the 1847 act was written I doubt the draughtsmen considered that horse drawn hackneys would last till the year 2009, thus some sort of vehicle transfer must take place.

What has the council done previously? Or are all the cabs in your manor horse drawn?

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IDFIMH

Reply from the new Chester council area??/ what ever its called now


Many Thanks for your E-Mail.

We were aware of the case that was brought in Liverpool but thanks for drawing our attention to it.

Both in the old Chester City Council and the new Cheshire West and Chester Council we have licensed both the LTI and a number of models of the converted vehicles that were approved by the council. Prior to approving any new model we always consult the Access Officer for his views.

The Council made the decision that new applicants for a Hackney Licence must have a new vehicle from the approved list. Since this decision was made a further 28 new Hackney Carriages of various models have been licensed in Chester.



With regard to Zones these came about as part of the Local Government Reform Transitional Provisions, the removal of the zones will only take place after consultation with the trade and approval of the Council. Fares are only approved by the council any changes are proposed by the Hackney Association.

Previously if you were the current holder of a plate then you could transfer it onto a different vehicle.
If you were applying for a new plate it had to go on a brand new vehicle.

So are they now saying what they have been doing for years was illegal?

If not, why change?

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IDFIMH

What they have been doing for years was under a different council.

yes that is how I interpreted their regs, only NEW applicants for a vehicle were required to get a new vehicle & after say 3 years they may transfer the plate to a 12 month old one and carry on.

I'm not really sure that matters.

The 1847 act applies equally to the smallest of councils as to the largest of councils.

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IDFIMH