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LICENSING FEES APPEAL: WAKEFIELD COUNCIL LOSES LANDMARK CASE
Licensing authorities across the country will be following with great interest the outcome of negotia- tions between Wake- field Council and the local trade, following the council’s defeat at the Court of Ap- peal on the matter of setting licensing fees incorrectly. The initial action to query the fees was a Judicial Review in December 2018, heard in the High Court in Leeds and lodged by the Wake- field District Hack- ney Carriage and Pri- vate Hire Associa- tion. The High Court found in favour of the WDHC&PHA; Wakefield Council subsequently appeal- ed that decision to the Court of Appeal
on 26 November 2019. Three Judges heard this appeal and dismissed it, awarding costs to the Association from both Courts – as de- tailed in the judge- ment published on 10 December 2019. Solicitors for Wake- field Council had argued that the poli- cy was necessary to make its licensing department self-suf- ficient. Although the Court of Appeal said councils can still recover the costs of enforcement against licence holders, rather than the tax payer, they will now have to do so differ- ently. Crucially, the Court of Appeal stated that they consider “the costs of enforc-
ing the behaviour of licensed drivers can be recovered through the driver’s licence fee under LGMPA section 53(2).” The precepts behind this hearing will result in a review of potential compensa- tion by Wakefield Council to be paid to its vehicle owners; there is already much speculation as to the amount, and to how far back that com- pensation may be claimed by the vehi- cle proprietors. Gerald Gouriet QC and Charles Streeten appeared for the WDHC&PHA. Mr Gouriet told us: “Wakefield (aston- ishingly, to my mind) tried to recover the cost of driver en- forcement via the
licence for vehicles. The High Court Judi- cial Review was simply that it was unlawful for Wake- field to do so; we won. Of course it was unlawful. “The vehicle owners have therefore been paying too much for their licences, and a claim lies for recov- ery of monies un- lawfully charged by Wakefield.” The outcome of this hearing could have far-reaching reper- cussions amongst other licensing auth- orities whose licens- ing fees have mir- rored the principles behind Wakefield.
Full analysis and further details can be found in Opinion inside this edition.
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SERVICES
Jan2020
Issue328
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