18 PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY
David Farmer Buses & Taxis Division Department for Transport 3/13 Great Minster House 76 Marsham Street London SW1P 4DR
DIRECT LINE: 020 7944 2283 FAX: 020 7944 2212 E-mail:
David.Farmer@
dft.gsi.gov.uk Web Site:
www.dft.gov.uk 17 DECEMBER 2008
Dear Sir/Madam,
LOCAL TRANSPORT ACT 2008 - PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE LOCAL SERVICES (OPERATION BY PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES) REGULATIONS [2009]
I am writing to invite you to comment on draft Regulations which the Depart- ment is proposing to make under the Local Transport Act 2008. The Regulations relate to the use of private hire vehicles (PHVs, or private hire cars as they are termed in Scotland) to provide local bus services.
2. The consultation will run from 17 December 2008 until 13 March 2009. Background
3. This consultation is not about the principle of allowing PHVs to run local bus services which was covered in the wider consultation exercise on the draft Bill which took place in 2007. In the light of that consultation, sections 53 and 54 of the Local Transport Act 2008 contain the provisions under which PHV owners will be allowed to register and operate local bus services. This consultation exercise concentrates solely on the draft Regulations which will be needed in order for PHV owners to use the powers available in the Act.
Purpose of the Regulations
4. The Regulations will set out the special rules which will apply to PHV own- ers when they choose to get a special restricted PSV operator's licence and run a local bus service using their PHVs. They will also identify which ele- ments of PHV law will not apply when a vehicle is acting as a PHV-bus. The Regulations will apply in England (outside London), Wales and Scotland. The reason why the Secretary of State for Transport is making Regulations for Scotland regarding what seems to be a private hire issue (and private hire leg- islation is a devolved matter) is that the Regulations relate more to public service vehicle (PSV) legislation rather than PHV legislation in that the new provision is all about PHVs acting as PSVs. – and PSV legislation is reserved (ie. dealt with by Westminster for the whole of Great Britain).
5. The following documents are attached to this covering letter: • A full description of the proposals is at Annex A • The draft Regulations are at Annex B • A consultation-stage Impact Assessment is at Annex C • A list of frequently asked questions and answers is at Annex D • A summary of the questions on which we are seeking feedback is at Annex E • A pro-forma for responding is at Annex F • A list of those consulted is attached at Annex G.
6. Paper copies of the consultation papers can be obtained by emailing your postal address to
andrew.neilson@
dft.gsi.gov.uk. General enquiries about the proposed regulations should also be made to the same e-mail address. Elec- tronic copies of the consultation documents are available on the DfT
website.http://
www.dft.gov.uk/consultations/open/localtransportact2008/
If you require the consultation in another format, such as large text or an audio recording, you can contact me at the address above.
Responses
7. If you have any comments on the draft Regulations, these should be sent to Andy Neilson at
andrew.neilson@
dft.gsi.gov.uk or by using the postal address above marked for the attention of Andy Neilson, by 13 March 2009. If you have any queries please contact Andy Neilson at the above address.
8. When responding please state whether you are responding as an individ- ual or representing the views of an organisation. If responding on behalf of a larger organisation please make it clear who the organisation represents, and where applicable, how the views of members were assembled.
9. If you have any suggestions of others who may wish to be involved in this process please contact us.
Freedom of Information
10. Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be subject to publication or disclosure in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Infor- mation Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).
11. If you want information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence.
12. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all cir- cumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.
13. The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.
Code of Practice on Consultation
14. This consultation has been produced in accordance with the principles of the Government's Code of Practice on Consultation.
• A copy of the Consultation Criteria is included at Annex H. What will happen next
15. A summary of responses to this consultation will be published after the consultation period has closed on our website:
www.dft.gov.uk. Paper copies will be available on request.
Yours sincerely David Farmer
SEE OPINION ON PAGES 12 AND 13
JANUARY 2009
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