TAXI LAW EXPLAINED
TAXI AND PRIVATE HIRE DECISION MAKING DURING CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
This article was supplied by: Stephen McCaffrey Head of Taxi Defence Barristers and Taxi Defence Scotland 020 7060 4773
www.taxidefencebarristers.co.uk
April 2020. These regulations were made under section 78 of the Coronavirus Act 2020 and enables local authorities to hold hearings remotely, including licensing com- mittees/panels.
REMOTE HEARINGS & DECISIONS BY OFFICERS
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19), local authorities have cancelled or postponed licensing committees. How- ever, action in relation to determining whether a person is fit and proper has not ceased and local authorities will continue to enforce rules and regulations. Decisions by licensing authorities will remain chal- lengeable – irrespective of whether a decision is made by a panel of elected councillors or officers.
In this article, we will look at the remote hearing regulations, how the courts may deal with licensing-related appeals and what all of this means in practice for taxi and private hire licence holders.
REMOTE HEARING REGULATIONS Fit and proper continues
It might be the case that licensing hearings in person may be postponed for the time being however licensing authorities will still deal with matters relating to the fitness and propriety of licence holders and new applicants. As I will look at in more detail below, taxi and private hire licence holders and applicants may see more decision making by officers (that would normally have been the remit of elected councillors) or, to an expected lesser extent, remote hearings. It is important however to bear in mind, the rights of licence holders and new licence applicants will remain the same.
Remote Hearing Regulations
The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Reg- ulations 2020 was published on the 2nd of
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Under the remote hearing regulations, a licensing committee can now be held by relying on “…telephone conferencing, video conferencing, live webcast, and live interac- tive streaming” although the use of technological means to hold licensing com- mittee hearings is not limited to specifically these means.
The remote hearings regulations will remain in force until May 2020 but could be repealed if Government advice and restricts are relaxed.
Your rights
Whilst there is now the ability for licensing committees/panels to be conducted remotely, it is important for licence holders and new applicants to understand that this cannot prejudice, or infringe, on their statu- tory rights. Licensing authorities will need to ensure that remote committee/panel hearings – or decisions made by officers – remains fair and transparent.
Right to be heard before a decision is taken
The fact that licensing committees operate in a quasi-judicial way, means that the rules of natural justice will also apply to deci- sions made by them. The first rule of natural justice is that people must be given a fair and reasonable opportunity to defend themselves. In terms of taxi and private hire licensing, this means that licence holders or applicants must be given the opportunity to attend a hearing and to address the licensing committee before a decision is made in relation to their licence or applica- tion.
Under normal circumstances, this would mean attending a licensing committee/ panel in person or being represented in per- son. However, if hearings are held remotely through the use of some form of technolo- gy, this is not possible. Notwithstanding however, the statutory right to be given a fair and reasonable opportunity to defend yourself cannot be withheld or compro- mised under these circumstances.
I would expect any licensing authority, that conducts licensing committee/panels remotely, to provide a licence holder or applicant with adequate means to interact with decision makers. By adequate means I would expect easy to use and fully function- al technology, adequate opportunity to address decision makers and to receive and answer questions and means for the debate and decision making to be transparent.
It is my suspicion however that licensing authorities will find conducting remote hearings too complex and will instead opt for a temporary change to delegations to enable more decision making by officers with some form of consultation with elect- ed Members. Clearly under these circumstances it will be harder, if not impossible, for licence holders or appli- cants to be given a reasonable opportunity to defend themselves in person.
However, there must still be fairness. At the very least, I would expect the decision making officer to have sight of some form of written explanation to consider prior to any decision making. If this is the case, a clear and comprehensive statement is vitally important and for this there is no substitute for specialist legal advice to advise on your statement.
Other rights to a fair hearing Other statutory rights include:
1. the right to know the case against you. In practice, this means you should be provided with all the relevant docu- ments and reports outlying the matters relevant to your case.
2. the right to be advised of the time and date of either the remote hearing or by when you need to submit any written statements. For remote hearings, it is also imperative that licence holders or applicants be given clear instructions on how to remotely attend. Taxi Defence Barristers is setup with the right equip- ment, skills and knowledge to represent clients with remote hearings.
3. the right to be represented. This right is not affected and as always we would strongly seeking specialist legal advice at the earliest opportunity. Specialist legal advice and particularly representa-
MAY 2020
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