LOCAL AUTHORITY POLICY DURING LOCKDOWN COVID-19 LOCKDOWN MEASURES:
ARE LOCAL AUTHORITIES PLAYING BALL?
We cannot highlight strongly enough the level of confusion, despair, lack of direc- tion, and misinformation that has prevailed over these opening weeks of the dreadful Covid-19 pandemic. Obviously this is going on worldwide as well as throughout the UK, and is permeating the lives of virtually every one of us on this planet.
However, all we can do within these pages is to focus on what is transpiring within the taxi and private hire industry. Judging by the huge number of phone calls, emails, Facebook posts and Twitter tweets that have come in both to PHTM and to the NPHTA, there are a lot of worried people out there who are literally begging for some direction. And we have to say that for the most part, they feel that such direction, guidance or assistance is not always coming from their own licensing authority.
As always, we wanted to ‘get to the heart of the matter’ so we conducted one of our now-famous surveys amongst all UK licens- ing authorities in relation to their current policy during the Covid-19 lockdown. As always, we did not receive a full contingent of replies from all licensing authorities; this is hardly surprising under the current reduced staff levels experienced by most councils.
But in the meantime, the Local Government Association – the national membership body for local authorities that “works on behalf of member councils to support, pro- mote and improve local government” – issued a guidance document on 17 April entitled “Approaches to managing licensing and related issues during the Covid-19 pan- demic”.
GUIDANCE, NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Within that document the LGA suggested that several principles “may be useful”, amongst which:-
• Ensuring that there is open and honest engagement with local businesses…;
• Being as flexible as possible while remaining mindful of the requirements and objectives of the relevant legisla- tion.
We singled out these two in particular as it has become evident that not all councils are adhering to those precepts – especially “open and honest engagement with local
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Also from the Local Goverment Association: “Councils do not have the power to extend exist- ing taxi/PHV licences, for example to reflect the fact that taxis and PHVs have been sig- nificantly hampered in oper- ating. However, when a licensee’s existing licence ends, councils are able to issue tem- porary short term licences, for example for a period to reflect the length of the lockdown period.”
businesses”. More on that below; check out Corby.
Having consulted with the Home Office, the LGA was advised that the deferral or dis- counting of licensing fees (for example, pertaining to taxi/PHVs) is not to be direct- ed by central Government and that these are “local decisions” – giving them more flexibility and discretion to review fees.
Keep an eye on this one: “When fees are reviewed councils may find they have a surplus on income because there has been reduced enforcement for example. If this was the case fees could be adjusted down- wards for future years.” So when all this settles down and we return to the “new nor- mal”, we would expect to hear about numerous licence holders putting in FOI requests to examine their council’s taxi/PHV licensing budget and expenditure.
Further discussion followed within the LGA document, in particular relating to vehicle testing and driver licensing. For the most part, councils have suspended the process- ing of all new driver and vehicle applications to devote their limited man-hours to dealing with existing licence holders.
The LGA recognises procedural difficulties within the six-month MoT extension period, and suggested that “consideration could also be given to voluntary suspension of licences… [which] can reduce costs such as insurance whilst not working.”
Here’s another important consideration: “Where caps on hackney licences are in place, thought may need to be given to how this could work – for example, holding a licence/plate for three months and then inviting them to re-apply.” Are you listening, Birmingham? More later…
SO WHO’S DOING WHAT?
Having set out the parameters of what a council can or cannot do during this pan- demic, we now take a look at a sort of ‘league table’ of local authorities’ Covid-19 procedures and revised licensing regimes during the current lockdown. Space pre- vents us listing everybody, so we’re just highlighting some stand-outs – both good and not so good.
PORTSMOUTH: Top of the table so far has to
be
Portsmouth, whose council sent out a direc- tive to all hackney carriage and PHV drivers with licences expiring on or by 30 June 2020: “For the interim time, it has been decided that your licence will automatically be renewed for a period of 12 months from the expiry of your licence…”
The council put a common-sense caveat on this directive that if there is any change in the licence holder’s medical condition, or if they have been arrested, convicted or cau- tioned since the last renewal, they must declare this. But to our knowledge (so far) Portsmouth is the only council that has granted such a lengthy extension. Bruce Hall of NPHTA member Aqua Cars com- ments on this in our Covid Conscious Companies article this month.
BRISTOL:
Another of the “good guys” is Bristol City Council, which has granted a six-month extension with no charge to licence holders whose vehicle plate was due for renewal on or after 30 March. NPHTA member Edwin Gunn reflected on this concession and agreed that it was very reasonable. Howev- er, he did advise us to check the council’s
MAY 2020
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