ALL THINGS LICENSING
The help of all stakeholders, including the licensed trade, in answering this survey will be essential in assisting an accurate evaluation of the existing guidance.
The letter calls on the Government to press for a change to the 2006 Act “so that all hackney carriage and private hire drivers undertake regulated activity both when undertaking home to school contract work and when not. That would accord with the approach under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. This would also reduce the burden on those drivers who undertake school contracts and make the position much easier for education and licensing authorities to understand.”
Elsewhere DBS checks continue to cause
frustration with online updates becoming the norm, although there are issues with manual certificates causing a problem for a number of drivers who cannot subsequently sign up to the update service. The IoL has been advised that this matter is being investigated but will not be resolved until late 2023.
IoL SUITABILITY GUIDANCE AND OTHER LEGISLATION
The IoL is currently reviewing its ‘Suitability Guidance’ for applicants and licensed drivers. The Guidance was originally published in April 2018 following development and consultation with a number of stakeholders, with the aim to produce a uniform set of standards governing the sector.
The majority of the standards were incorporated in the DfT’s Statutory Guidance issued in 2020 and the IoL is now undertaking a review of the Suitability Guidance to ensure that it remains current, and to
additional information which may be usefully included.
PHTM JANUARY 2023
The survey is open until 16 January 2023 and can be accessed at:
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Suitability GuidanceReview_Sep22/
Let us not also forget that 2022 also saw the introduction of new taxi legislation to strengthen safeguarding and equalities; together with the new requirement to provide a tax code to demonstrate that licence holders were registered for their tax liabilities.
The past year also had a number of legal cases including a definitive position that ‘app based’ PHVs
are not ‘plying for hire’ following the
judgement in the UTAG v TfL case; and I am sure that many operators are keeping an eye on the Uber v Sefton case which may have VAT implications for all PHV journeys.
WHAT WILL 2023 BRING?
Looking forward into 2023, the Department for Transport will hopefully bring forward revised Best Practice Guidance and I remain ever hopeful that the government will legislate national standards which may go some way in trying to address some of the disparity and issues created in what is an uneven playing field for both licensing authorities and the trade. It remains clear that partnership between councils and the trade will be key to resolving some of the issues which continue to affect the industry.
enable consideration of
So, as well as wishing all readers a Happy New Year, I would encourage members of the trade to set a New Year’s resolution to understand more about licensing and join the Institute of Licensing to stay ‘in the know’ and gain key knowledge and understanding about issues affecting the industry.
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