ALL THINGS LICENSING
Article by Mike Smith, Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety at Guildford Borough Council and Vice-Chair of the Institute of Licensing South East Region.
Please note that this article represents my own views and are not presented as the views of the IoL or Guildford Borough Council.
REFLECTING ON 2022
January is a time to look back on the past year and forward to the next. There is no doubt that 2022 has been another difficult year. Whereas 2020 was impacted severely by covid restrictions and 2021 made difficult with further restrictions and a hesitancy in some parts to go out due to the risks of the virus; 2022 saw a different challenge. The cost-of-living crisis, national political turmoil with three different Prime Ministers and international events in Ukraine all contributed to uncertainty on a monumental scale.
With the cost-of-living crisis, including the price of fuel and other services running high, consumers will be cutting corners to save money and there is no doubt that this will continue to impact drivers. Whilst fares can go up and appear to be in many areas, this may not cover the increased costs which many readers are feeling. There are no easy answers to this but we have to hope that 2023 will bring some brighter news. It is also clear on the other hand, with other transport sectors striking, that there is also likely to be some increased demand.
IoL NATIONAL TRAINING CONFERENCE
There is still a lot of discussion about the trade ‘bouncing back’ and some of the barriers which are slowing this down. The recent IoL Conference had a number of ‘taxi’ focused sessions attended by industry representatives, including the NPHTA, where the role of licensing authorities came under discussion; in particular how applications can be sped up and new applicants supported through the process in order to encourage applicants to stay ‘local’ and reduce the tendency to start
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‘licence shopping’, although clearly operators also have a role to play in this regard as I set out in December’s edition of PHTM in my article about cross-border hiring.
Elsewhere, the IoL Conference looked at the particular issue of driver shortages in the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Home to School transport sector, with the trade asking for ‘restricted’ private hire licences and highlighting the issue of drivers in this sector often having to obtain two DBS certificates; one for the licensing authority to gain a licence, and another for the education authority to ‘work’ with children.
DBS CHECKS
The issue of dual DBS checks is something which the IoL has recently written to the Government about highlighting the complexities faced by licensed drivers who undertake ‘normal’ taxi/PH work and school contracts.
In the letter, IoL President James Button, wrote:
“The requirements for a normal hackney carriage or private hire driver are that there is an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check which includes a check of both the adult and children barred lists. This check is undertaken using the terms “other workforce” and “taxi licensing” (see paragraph 6.2 of “Statutory Taxi & Private Hire Vehicle Standards” issued by the DfT in 2020).
“For a licensed driver undertaking home to school contracts, a different DBS check is required to comply with the requirements of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006. This Act defines such activity as “regulated activity” (see section 5 and Schedule 4 paragraphs 1(1), 2(1)(f)) and 10(1)). This requires the check to be made using the term “child workforce”.
“This results in the peculiar situation that a hackney carriage or private hire driver who will also undertake school contracts must have two DBS checks, which is both an added expense and inconvenience.”
JANUARY 2023 PHTM
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