INSTITUTE OF LICENSING CARRY CERTAIN PASSENGERS THROUGH FEAR OF INFECTION?
cover a proportion of home-school contracts which will obviously simply continue.
In relation to contracts that are currently no longer required on a day-to-day basis, reports indicate that some LEAs are continuing to pay under these contracts, others are paying a proportion of the usual amount, whilst others are simply not paying at all. The situation varies on a LEA by LEA basis.
What is the legal position?
In simple terms (and without wishing to sound to “lawyerly” about it) it will depend on the terms of the contract.
of coronavirus then they may feel it is not safe to carry that passenger. The driver would need to discuss that with the operator, because the contract for hire is between the hirer and the operator (there is also a contract between the operator and the driver which will need to be considered as well).
A pre-booked hackney carriage is similar to this, but the contract may have been made directly with the driver rather than a third party booking agent.
CONCLUSIONS
There is unlikely to be much demand for hackney carriage or private hire services in town centres relating to commercial activity (includ- ing the night-time economy) for the foreseeable future. However there will be significant activity to assist people to shop, attend hospital, and if essential for the passenger go to work. It may also be the case that hackney and private hire vehicles will be used for local food deliveries where local stores can provide goods but do not have their own dedicated delivery service.
All these appear to be legitimate activities in these difficult and troubled times.
It must be appreciated that no activity is risk-free: the key is to follow the legal restrictions and government guidance so far as is possible and practicable, and beyond that for drivers to take all sen- sible reasonable precautions to protect both themselves and passengers.
TAXIS AND SCHOOL CONTRACTS
A huge number of private hire and hackney carriage drivers (and their vehicles) are engaged in “school contracts”. These are long- term contracts between a Local Education Authority (“LEA”) and the private hire operator, or the hackney carriage driver.
In the current climate, with schools closed, the question arises of what happens to those contracts, and in particular whether the operators and drivers will receive a payment or compensation. It is important to recognise that schools remain open for the chil- dren of key workers, and for many vulnerable children which includes those with education, health and care plans. This will
APRIL 2020
Every one of these journeys is covered by a contract, and that will detail the terms and conditions. This should contain clauses that relate to cancellation of the contract, and should also address the situation of any closure of schools, and therefore cessation of the contract, even if that is for a temporary period.
This situation has arisen before, although not on this scale. There have been short term closures of schools due to bad weather (snow in particular), damage to buildings through fire, flood and so on, so the situation where a vehicle and driver is not required is not unprecedented. However, this shutdown is open ended, and there- fore on a completely different scale.
If the contract covers this, the LEA is entitled to adhere to it. That does not mean that they cannot depart from it, so if for example, the contract states that if the vehicle is not required due to school closure, there will be no payment, the LEA could decide to make an ex gratia payment, of either some or all of the usual amount. Unfor- tunately, if they do not take that action, as the contract is clear, there is unlikely to be any chance of successfully challenging that.
If the contract is not explicit on this point, then there may be some hope. This may be dependant of the approach taken by that LEA in the past. If they have honoured the contract or made ex gratia payments, it may be possible to argue that there is an implied term in the contract that this will continue at this time. There may also be an argument to say that in those circumstances there is a legitimate expectation of some payment, but this will require negotiation and ultimately, potentially, litigation.
It is unfortunate that there may not be any clear answers here, but in such peculiar times, there are very few clear answers to anything. I fully appreciate that this does not help those who need to put food on the table, and make all the other payments associated with liv- ing, but it remains to be seen what the outcomes are going to be. In the meantime dialogue with the LEA can only be beneficial.
James Button - 24th March 2020
James Button & Co Solicitors
www.jamesbutton.co.uk
James Button is a solicitor specialising in taxi law. He is the author of “Button on Taxis: Licensing Law and Practice” (4th edition 2017 Bloomsbury Professional) and he is also President of the Institute of Licensing
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