Taxi Driver Online

David Farmer
Buses & Taxis Division
Department for Transport

28 February 2007

Dear Sir/Madam,

Changes to Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) Legislation in the Road Safety Act 2006

1. I am writing to you about the commencement dates for the taxi/private hire vehicle (PHV) measures in the Road Safety Act 2006.

2. In summary:

• Section 52 (power to suspend or revoke a driver's licence with immediate effect) will come into force on 16 March 2007.

• Section 53 (repeal of the contract exemption outside London) will come into force in January 2008.

• Section 54 (re-defining "private hire vehicle" in the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998) will come into force by 31 March 2008 at the latest.

3. This letter is being sent to all local authorities in England and Wales, principal stakeholders and those who expressed an interest during the passage of the Bill or subsequently. A second copy of the letter is enclosed with all Chief Executives' letters; this should be passed to the Taxi Licensing Officer.

Background

4. Taxi and PHV licensing in England and Wales is carried out by district/borough councils and unitary authorities outside London and by Transport for London (TfL) in London. Ministers took the view that the legislative framework within which licensing authorities carry out their licensing duties contained three significant safety risks and decided that they would use the opportunity presented by the Road Safety Bill to address these risks.

5. Set out below is a description of what the risks were that needed to be addressed, how the law is being changed with regard to each of the three issues and when each of the three sections will be commenced.

Power to suspend or revoke a driver's licence with immediate effect

6. At present, a taxi or PHV driver (outside London) can continue to work as a taxi or PHV driver whilst appealing to the magistrates court against a decision by the local licensing authority to suspend or revoke his taxi or PHV driver's licence.

7. Section 52 of the Road Safety Act gives licensing authorities the power to suspend or revoke a taxi or PHV driver's licence with immediate effect where they are of the opinion that the interests of public safety require such a course of action.

8. Section 52 will be commenced on 16 March 2007. This means that licensing authorities can only start to use the power in relation to decisions to suspend or revoke which are made on or after 16 March; they cannot use the power in relation to suspension or revocation decisions which had been made before that date. The section applies outside London; TfL already have similar powers in London.

9. It will be a matter for individual local licensing authorities to determine how they wish to make use of this new power. The Department has not issued any guidance on this issue. However, Ministers will keep under review whether general guidance to authorities on the use of this new power would be appropriate or necessary.

Repeal of the contract exemption

10. At present, in England and Wales (outside London) a vehicle is exempt from the requirement to be licensed as a PHV if it is used for contracts lasting not less than seven days. This is commonly known as "the contract exemption". Neither the driver of the vehicle nor the operator who arranges hirings need be licensed.

11. Ministers decided that this exemption posed a significant safety risk and should be repealed. Section 53 of the Road Safety Act repeals the contract exemption.

12. Section 53 of the Act will be commenced in January 2008.

13. Following Royal Assent to the Bill, the Department sought the views of principal stakeholders on the timing of the commencement date of this provision. Ministers regard the repeal of the contract exemption as necessary for public safety and would wish to see it come into force as soon as possible. However they took account of representations which argued that there is a need to leave an appropriate period before coming into force to allow currently unlicensed drivers, vehicles and operators to be licensed or for alternative contract arrangements to be made where necessary.

14. Ministers are though keen to see PHVs currently covered by the exemption brought within the licensing regime without delay. They therefore urge all the parties involved to take early steps to achieve this, so that as many contractors as possible are licensed even before this becomes mandatory in January 2008. When the relevant Commencement Order has been made, information about the specific date will be placed on the Department's web-site.

15. From the date of commencement, any vehicle which falls within the definition of "private hire vehicle" in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 1 must be licensed by the council in which the person who arranges the bookings is located (known in the legislation as the "controlled district"). Any person who drives a licensed PHV must hold a PHV driver's licence and any person who arranges hirings using a licensed PHV must hold a PHV operator licence. The only exemptions from licensing will be for vehicles used solely for weddings and funerals.

16. Any vehicle proprietor or operator who is in any doubt about whether the vehicles which he owns or operates should be licensed as PHVs should, in the first instance, discuss the matter with the local licensing authority (the district/borough council or unitary authority) and, if necessary, seek advice from an independent legal adviser. I should stress that the Department is not able to provide legal advice about individual cases.

Changing the definition of "private hire vehicle" in London

17. At present, the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998 defines a private hire vehicle as "a vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers which is made available with a driver to the public for hire for the purpose of carrying passengers, other than a licensed taxi or a public service vehicle". It became apparent that vehicle owners were avoiding licensing on the basis that their vehicles were not being made available to the public; rather they were being used for a dedicated group or organisation, perhaps on a contract basis.

18. Section 54 of the Road Safety Act amends the definition of private hire vehicle in the 1998 Act by removing the words “to the public” from the current definition. The effect of this amendment will be similar to the effect of the repeal of the contract exemption outside London, namely that additional drivers, operators and vehicles will be brought within the PHV licensing regime. In deciding on the commencement date for this change, Ministers - after consulting TfL - have taken into account the particular practical considerations which arise at this stage of the implementation of PHV licensing in general in London.

19. Section 54 will be commenced by 31 March at the latest. In the autumn we will consider with Transport for London whether there is any scope for commencement at an earlier date. Again, Ministers urge all parties to ensure that PHVs covered by this change are brought within the licensing regime without delay, and before the mandatory date where this is possible. When the relevant Commencement Order has been made, information about the specific date will be placed on the Department's web-site.

20. From the date of commencement, it will be irrelevant whether a vehicle is provided for hire to a dedicated group or to the public at large; any vehicles which fall within the definition of private hire vehicle in the 1998 Act will have to be licensed. The driver and the operator (the person who arranges the hirings) will also have to be licensed. The only exemptions from licensing will be for vehicles used solely for weddings and funerals.

Yours sincerely

David Farmer

1 Private hire vehicle is defined in section 80 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 as "a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a hackney carriage or public service vehicle or a London cab or a tramcar, which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers".

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IDFIMH

Well thanks for f*** all.

Now we are going to get the 343 different councils acting in 343 different ways.

_________________
IDFIMH

17th November 06


Mr. David Farmer
Buses & Taxis Division
Department for Transport
Zone 3/13 Great Minster House
76 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DR



Dear Mr. Farmer,


Definition of ‘serious offences’


I write to add the support of the National Taxi Association (NTA) to the recent letter forwarded to you from Bryan Rowland of the National Private Hire Association (NPHA).

Whilst we appreciate, the vast majority of local authorities will use the new powers granted to them in the Road Safety Act 2006 with good judgment, unfortunately, experience tells us this will not always be the case. For this reason we believe, along with our colleagues in the NPHA, that clear guidance is a regrettable necessity.

The NTA do support local authorities being equipped with all the tools necessary to ensure the protection of the public, it is clear to us that if correctly used, the new powers will undoubtedly be of benefit to everyone concerned. However, we also understand that the points raised by the NPHA are extremely valid and we therefore request that guidance is formulated.


Sincerely,

_________________
Justice for the 96. It has only taken 27 years...........repeat the same lies for 27 years and the truth sounds strange to people!

Not blaming anyone or anything, but that just goes to show what the DfT think of us and those that the DfT think represent us.

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IDFIMH

Maybe ............ considering that we are 3 months into 2007 and therefore only have 9 months before we are into 2008, the DfT have decided that the councils need some time to assist unlicensed firms to become licensed.
You must remember that one of the most important parts of the application process is the CRB check which as been proven to take approx 3 months to be returned.

Then if you consider that the vehicles need to be checked as well so some Councils may need time to adapt their facilities to take larger vehicles or find approved testing stations to conduct the tests for them.

I to would have liked to see implementation sooner, but I don't think the timescale for implementation to be to outrageous.

I would though have liked to see more about this in the National Press ................... as I'm sure that if the public were aware that these companies were going to be required to be licensed they would be more likely to use the companies who had become licensed.

B. Lucky

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"Here's a simple solution. If you don't want to pay more for a premium service then wait in the queue, problem solved".
Skull on TDO

TF pi$$ed on his chips.

I'm inclined to agree with GA for a change

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

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IDFIMH

I note the latest date is the part to sort out the minicab mess.

Why does that not surprise me?

Ian