ROUND THE COUNCILS
SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE: WOLVERHAMPTON TO HANDLE LICENSING
South Staffordshire District Council (SSDC) is handing over taxi and private hire licensing functions to Wolverhampton Council (CWC). The delegation was agreed by the district authority’s cabinet on Tuesday 7 December for an initial three-year period. The Express & Star reports that the cabinet report said: “Joint working by way of delegating the taxi licensing function to CWC has several benefits: greater choice for the trade including on-line applications
(and) in terms of
garages and medical practitioners; greater public safety through improved enforcement activity (and) tighter standards; reduced licensing costs for the trade and costs for the council. “The taxi market is undergoing significant change in the same way that Licensing authorities are. This has been further accelerated through the Covid pandemic. “The key challenges (include) increasing cross-border hire based on apps, e.g. Uber, (and) the need for greater enforce- ment resources to be devoted to taxi licensing as a result of various investigations into child sexual exploitation. “App-based booking systems, supported by case law, make the traditional view of a private hire operator in an office with a phone located within the boundary of the licensing authority outdated. The Covid pandemic has forced the way we do business with the trade to find online rather than face to face solutions to processing applications for licences. It has also created additional urgency in reducing the financial burdens on both the council and the taxi trade. “CWC has embraced and dealt with these changes. The level of process change and investment by CWC, embracing new technology for service delivery and taking into account the new technology used by the taxi trade, along with a robust approach to compliance and enforcement is impressive.” South Staffordshire Council has seen a fall in income from taxi licensing in recent years, the report stated. It said: “The council has been struggling to balance income and expenditure on taxi licensing for the last five years, and this will increasingly become more difficult with a balance shortfall of £25,000 expected by 2023. “Government and the Local Government Association advice and guidance, supported by case law, encourages local authorities to ensure that all administration and enforcement costs of a licensing system are met by the beneficiaries of the system and not at the expense of the general taxpayer. “SSDC faces the same financial challenges that all public sector organisations are facing in trying to achieve a balanced budget and financial stability through its Medium- Term Financial Strategy. “If the taxi licensing function is not delegated to CWC there will need to be a significant increase in taxi licensing fees in order to sustain a balance in expenditure and income.”
JANUARY 2022
Members of the taxi trade in South Staffordshire have been consulted on the changes and two meetings were held, including a virtual session. The report said: “Concern was expressed in relation to an expected increase in fees at CWC. However, fees at SSDC would increase significantly in a fee review. This increase is balanced by the reduction in vehicle fees. “The trade was very complimentary of the service provided by SSDC, and highlighted worries that the service may not be as personal or timely at CWC. At SSDC with a very small team sickness or holiday absences increase the risk of gaps in provision to the trade, and we have received complaints about availability of appointments. “Ability to apply for licences online 24 hours per day should give the trade more flexibility and ease of access to the service.”
REDCAR & CLEVELAND CABBIES FACE TWO DBS CHECKS A YEAR
Redcar & Cleveland Council has moved to strengthen licens- ing standards. GazetteLive reports that members of the council’s regulatory committee have approved a new draft policy resulting from new statutory guidelines published by the Government last year, which were intended to be implemented by the end of December. A report said the council had already put in place many of the Government recommendations but licensing chiefs had taken the opportunity to review other standards. The changes will mean licensed drivers will have to submit to DBS checks every six months, rather than the previous three years. Licensed drivers must within seven days disclose to the council in writing the details of any convic- tion or caution imposed on them by a court. Annual criminal record checks will also apply to vehicle proprietors, while there will be obligations on private hire operators to conduct basic criminal record checks on staff responsible for taking bookings and dispatching vehicles. The council has also reviewed the standards in relation to the age of taxis able to legally operate as either hackney carriage or private hire vehicles. Currently, vehicles should be less than three years old when first licensed and less than six years old when the licences are renewed unless they are ‘exceptionally well maintained’, in which case they can continue to be licensed indefinitely. The council said this latter criteria was too subjective and had not always been applied as originally intended. The proposed new standard will mean that all vehicles should be less than six years old when first licensed and less than 12 years old when licences are renewed. The report said: “This will allow the council to apply a consistent standard for vehicles while reducing regulatory burdens to promote business growth by ensuring require- ments are reasonable and justified.”
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