At least I would like to think that this has caused a bit of a shudder to all of those private hire drivers who have got their licences from Wolverhampton and are working hundreds of miles away, out of sight and out of mind of respective local enforcement. As well as all those out-of-town drivers who have invaded Brighton and Hove too.


I will be writing to Christopher Vince MP thanking him for taking an interest in the current chaos and the destruction of the local licensing authority’s ability to enact local enforcement and also outlining what has now happened to the trade here since I first proudly attained my local licence some forty-years ago.


NEW TERMINOLOGY


I will also make it clear that the term ‘cross-border hiring’ is not really the term to use. I have never been keen on this as it gives the wrong impression and is quite misleading because without cross-border hiring, in the true sense, it would be impossible for the trade to transport people to other areas and also pick them up to bring them back, which has been the case since private hire vehicles were first licensed in 1976.


So there really needs to be a new term used along the lines of ‘predominant out of area working’ or abbreviated to ‘POAW’. This term then properly and clearly reflects what is going on and I hereby relinquish any copyright.


Among other issues I will raise will be the really irksome point of where I have to inform any insurance company of my licensing area as this affects my premium. This is because I am sure that I pay a much higher premium than those drivers who are licensed under sleepy Lewes (rural) DC next door to the city of Brighton & Hove, who predominantly work here.


I am sure that a lot of drivers in the trade who have only ever worked under ‘POAW’ will be upset. Well, unfortunately that is tough because they have exactly the same opportunity to be licensed by the licensing authority of the area in which they predominantly want to work, as the trade is open to all. Just put the ****** effort in!


I have previously touched on the impact of the much PHTM AUGUST 2024


hinted at ‘Minimum Conditions of Licensing’ which is not to be confused with being: the fewer conditions as possible would be better. These conditions still leave it open to individual local licensing authorities to add in local requirements which then still don’t tackle the major issue of ‘POAW’ and in fact legitimise the practice.


However, where minimum conditions of licensing must be applied is to the actual local licensing authorities themselves in ensuring that a driver/vehicle must be capable of being licensed within say two months of the application. This is because I have read reports of the ludicrous time that some local authorites seem to take on this process.


This does not remove what the applicant has to achieve, such as undertaking a local knowledge test or CSE course and so on. But it does put pressure on local authorities to pull their fingers out in ensuring that their licensing process has to be within a set limit - providing of course that the applicant has achieved the requirements.


This should help towards stopping all those prospective applicants from heading towards Wolver- hampton which contributes to the job security of those licensing officers and reducing the jolly boys and girls enforcement outings.


Funnily enough I keep reading on various social media outlets that the waiting time to be licensed by Wolverhampton has now risen. I think this goes to prove the point where the likes of Wolverhampton are the scourge of localism and backs up claims made by Chrisopher Vince MP.


If anything positive does happen, unfortunately it will be some time in the future, if ever. But if this is going to affect you, then you now have plenty of time to plan for any change of your driver and vehicle licence. If you are an out-of-town driver predominantly working here then forget your satnav and start studying for the Brighton & Hove knowledge test!


I only hope that some multi-billion-dollar international app is not going to start holding hands with new naive MPs and nobble any changes that ‘might’ happen in favour of its shareholders.


I guess time will tell! 59


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