Taxi Driver Online

Found these through the online Yellow Pages

Why can't the Council's Licensing Dept. ?

http://www.blueskymarketing.co.uk/glasg ... ntact.html

http://www.wedriveyou.co.uk/contact-details.cfm?ID=11

http://www.first-travel-global.co.uk/id1.html


Just a thought is this company offering the oldest car in the U.K. for private hire ?

http://www.lacars.co.uk/

But why do you ahve to licenced to do this?

Surely all of this work is contract hire and therefore private hire requirements do not come into it.

I've just had this argument with a company I have just left, 90+% of their work is contract hire and yet he is struggling to find good PH drivers to work for a mere £5 per hour and not pirate.

As I have said to him, you don't need PH drivers you need normal drivers who have passed a CRB check but he didn't seem interested, now the place is going down the pan cos the only PH drivers he can get is the dreggs of society (not good for business) whilst the clever ones are earning good money elswhere...

Wrong Steptoe.

So so wrong.

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A member of the Hire or Reward Industry

Because you are taking folks from A to B for payment.

The contract issue is pretty straight forward to the half a dozen people in the country who actually know that part of the law.

In short they can't run those things on the contract exemption.

Apart from weddings and funerals. Which from my view are one of the same.

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IDFIMH

So if I wanted to run a fleet of wedding cars I could employ any driver whereas anything else is PH?

Providing the job is for a wedding you can employ Atilla the Hun if you so wish.

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IDFIMH

And hires which exceed 24 hours.

Better get in there quick then, as I was applying for my badge there was talk that the local council were planning (maybe just talk) on putting the likes of wedding car companies on the same level as PH, IE: they would need to be plated as licenced as a PH car.

I think it would be better if the council read the relevant legislation - I don't think they can

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

In am not sure of the exact taxi legislation in England & Wales but here in Scotland it is the Civic Government Act 1982

Hope this clears up the law regards what Private Hire is here in Scotland, especially s23 (2)


CIVIC GOVERNMENT (SCOTLAND) ACT 1982 CHAPTER 45

The Driver is breaking the law..

s 21 Offences.

(1) If any person--

(b) picks up passengers in, or permits passengers to be picked up by, a
private hire car within an area in respect of which its operation requires
to be but is not licensed or the driver requires to be but is not licensed,
that person shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on summary
conviction, to a fine not exceeding [level 4 on the standard scale] [FN1].

Exemptions to the Act

s 22 Saving for certain vehicles etc.

Nothing in sections 10 to 21 (with the exception of subsection (7) of section 21
of this Act shall--

(a) apply to a vehicle used for bringing passengers or goods within and
taking them out of an area in respect of which the vehicle is not licensed
as a taxi or a private hire car in pursuance of a contract for the hire of
the vehicle made outside the area if the vehicle is not made available for
hire within the area;

(b) apply to a vehicle while it is being used in connection with a funeral
or wedding;

(c) apply to any vehicle while it is being used for carrying passengers
under a contract for its exclusive hire for a period of not less than 24
hours.

What is Private Hire ?

s 23 Interpretation of sections 10 to 22.

(1) In sections 10 to 22 of this Act--

"taxi" means a hire car which is engaged, by arrangements made in a
public place between the person to be conveyed in it (or a person acting on
his behalf) and its driver for a journey beginning there and then; and

"private hire car" means a hire car other than a taxi within the meaning
of this subsection.

(2) In subsection (1) above, "hire car" means a motor vehicle with a driver
(other than a vehicle being a public service vehicle within the meaning of
section 1(1)(a) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981) which
is, with a view to profit, available for hire by the public for personal
conveyance.

I haven't got the actual legislation, but I think it's largely the same in England and Wales, ie wedding cars are exempt so an LA has no powers to license them.

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

Maybe I should have a wedding car hire business, £150 + for a couple of hours work on a Saturday for 1 car can't be bad.

So if you don't need a PH driver for weddings and funerals then how do they get around this with Chauffeur driven cars?

Surely they are under contract to drive from one destination to the next but they would not be under a continous hire for more than 24 hours so as mentioned here they would need to be PH drivers.

As yet I haven't found any website advertising that their Chauffeur driven cars are driven by PH drivers.

I think it may be a case that LAs can exclude certain categories of vehicles from licensing, but on the other hand the legislation ensures that they can't included wedding and funeral cars.

If they had to license funeral cars, then that would represent the dead hand of government

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Taxi Driver Online
www.taxi-driver.co.uk

But would you have to buy a £20/30,000 motor?

And if you kept to the normal Skoda/Mondeo, would you be able to charge £150?

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IDFIMH