ROUND THE COUNCILS TORBAY:
SOUTHAMPTON: BIG CHANGES PLANNED FOR ALL TAXIS Consultation has
begun on Torbay Council’s hackney carriage and private hire licensing policy, which has already been agreed in prin- ciple by the Li- censing Committee. DevonLive reports that the consultation period will run until August 31. The eight main changes are: • New standard liv- ery. All PHVs will be black and hack- ney carriages will be white - but they will have contrast- ing vinyl wrapped boots and bonnets (used for advertis- ing in other areas), colour and any sig- nage yet to be determined. Exist- ing
licensed
vehicles will be required to con- form to the new standard
livery
when the vehicle is replaced at any time.
• All drivers will have to undertake CSE training. This will apply to all existing drivers by May 2019 and all new drivers within six months of
the grant of a licence.
• A driver will have to appear before Licensing Commit- tee if they have more than nine penalty points at any one time. This change means that ten or more current penalty points on a DVLA licence may result in action being taken against the driver by the licensing authority, which
could 28 include their
licence being sus- pended.
• The process of checking for traffic offences and li- cence
endorse-
ments will be tight- ened from ‘where considered neces- sary’ to ‘every six months’.
• The maximum age of a licensed vehi- cle
(once li-
censed) has been increased from eight years to ten years subject to suitability.
maximum age of a vehicle when first presented
for
licensing has been left at four years, but the maximum mileage of a vehi- cle when first presented
for
licensing has been reduced
from 60,000 to 50,000.
• Each and every vehicle that has reached
eight
years of age or more will be re- quired to undergo a second compli- ance test, approx- imately six months from the date of renewal.
• All licensed hack- ney carriage and PHVs will be fitted with identifying door signs.
• CCTV installation inside vehicle will be left to individual drivers and vehicle proprietors.
The aimof the policy is to regulate the sys- tem to ensure that the public travel safely,
receive a
good level of service and drivers and operators are not
overly burdened by unnecessary condi- tions. “Public safety is paramount, and this licensing authority seeks to ensure through its licensing regime that all taxi and private hire vehicles are fit for purpose and that their drivers and/or operators are fit and proper persons,” the policy says. To de- cide if a driver is fit and proper,
the The
licensing authority will
require the
applicant to demon- strate: • That they under- stand the local geography of Tor- bay, by success- fully completing a knowledge test.
• They are able to communicate ef- fectively with cus- tomers, to include a basic under- standing of the English language. successfully
• To
complete a Driving Standards Assess- ment.
• Drivers will have to produce an ac- ceptable certificate.
DBS
• They must have a satisfactory driving history, as verified through the DVLA.
• And, finally, they must be consid- ered ‘fit
and
proper’ by Torbay Council.
Mmmm… How many vehicles will be involved in the pro- posed livery change? Very few councils have standard livery for PHVs as well as for taxis – that’s big bucks. – Ed.
Taxi drivers and operators will be consulted on Gwyn- edd Council plans to hike the cost of their licences. According to the Cambrian News, Gwynedd’s General Licensing Commit- tee has approved seeking their views on increasing licence costs in order to cover
their own
administrative over- heads. However, the plans are contentious, with a prominent local operator
raising
fears that it could lead to a shortage of available drivers. In response to indus- try reservations, the committee was told that spreading the cost of
licences,
rather than paying in one lump sum, was an
avenue authority the could
explore. It was also con- firmed that it could look at raising the county’s taxi fares if the industry so wished. If the proposals are
adopted, it would mean an average increase of 28 per cent across
the
board, but the cost of three or five-year licences would work out much cheaper than purchasing one lasting for 12 months only. It’s proposed that a one-year driver’s licence would in- crease from £136 to £233, with a new hackney
carriage
licence going from £204 a year to £232, and a renewal also going up in cost from£169.20 to £197. Meanwhile, a one- year operator
li-
cence is set to in- crease from £180.80 to £236 and a five- year version from £297.80 to £329, with new private hire licences also being hiked from £240.50 to £269. According to the report presented to the committee:“The fees have not been changed since the 2015 Deregulation Act introduced the right to apply for
taxi driver licences that remain valid for three years, and operator
licences
that are valid for up to three or five years. “The
Department
Treasurer’s has
assessed the pro- posed fees and has concluded that the proposed increase is reasonable to recov- er the costs incurred when processing an application, in ac- cordance with what is permitted within the Act. However, the pro- posals have sparked concerns among the industry. “It will put a lot of people off becoming drivers,” said Huw Edwards, who runs Tacsis Huw (Huw’s Taxis) in Penygroes. “It’s going to have a massive impact on thewhole industry in Gwynedd.” Once completed, the findings of the public consultation will be presented to the committee, who will make the final decision.
AUGUST 2018 FOUR ‘UNSAFE’ TAXIS TAKEN OFF ROADS
Four ‘unsafe’ taxis have been driven off Southampton’s roads. It follows a joint operation between Southampton City Council’s licensing enforcement team and Hampshire Con- stabulary. According to the Daily Echo, the two groups joined forces
on a recent Tuesday night to make sure taxis in the city were roadworthy
and
complying with licensing rules. More than 20 taxis were stopped, of which ten were sent to be examined. This led to nine being dealt with for different offences
and five being given notices to get minor issues rectified. However,
police
have revealed that four taxis were sus- pended by council licensing enforce- ment officers with immediate effect until major faults have been made safe.
GWYNEDD: CONCERN AT PLAN TO HIKE LICENCE COSTS
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
