IoL - ALL THINGS LICENSING LICENCE FEES
You may think that less drivers means less time to process applications and hence licence fees will reduce. This isn’t necessarily the case. Each council will set their fees differently - there isn’t a consistent method and costs vary between authorities.
MORE GUIDANCE FOR COUNCILS
Now you may think that less drivers means less work for licensing authorities; however this isn’t necessarily true. The DfT Standards mentioned above represent statutory guidance which the government expects local authorities to implement by the end of the year. This means councils must review their licensing policy, and they should consult industry members in their area as part of the process.
In addition, local authorities have recently been issued with updated guidance about how to check an applicant’s ‘right to work’ following a temporary period of allowing remote checks due to restrictions.
Furthermore, and importantly, ‘Tax Conditionality’ takes effect from April 2022, requiring tax checks as part of the licence application process for drivers and operators. New applicants will be advised on the need to be tax registered and signposted to HMRC. But for renewal applications, the council will not be able to process the application from April 2022 unless the applicant provides a 9-character tax check code.
It is essential that all drivers and operators are aware of the Tax Conditionality requirements. You will need a Govern- ment Gateway user ID and password to complete a tax check, so make sure you have one well before you need to renew your licence. The process should be very straight- forward providing you are properly registered for tax, and therefore able to generate the required tax check code for your application.
HMRC have provided some useful guidance for applicants, and you will find this on their website at:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/changes-for-taxi-private- hire-or-scrap-metal-licence-applications-from-april-2022
The incoming requirements will affect all licensed drivers and private hire operators and there may be instances where applications are delayed as both councils and the trade adjust. Making sure you are registered and have your Government Gateway user ID and password, will minimise the likelihood of your application being held up.
NOVEMBER 2021
Less time may be spent on processing applications, however where licensing officers have been working on updating policies and supporting the trade during the pandemic, time has still been spent on licensing. As such if councils recover their costs from the number of licence holders, if there are less licence holders then this may mean a higher cost per licence.
In addition, before the pandemic at the end of 2019 there was a relevant piece of case law, R (on the application of Abdul Rehman on behalf of the Wakefield District Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Association) v Wakefield District Council and the Local Government Association (intervener), concerning the setting of licensing fees. Essentially this judgement clarified the position of recovering enforcement costs against a driver’s licence. Before this judgement, most councils did not recover enforcement costs against drivers as this was generally not considered to fall within the recoverable costs of ‘issue and administration’ as outlined as being chargeable in the legislation. However this judgement has clarified that enforcement costs against drivers can be recovered under the driver licence fees.
It is well reported that councils are struggling financially and consequently I envisage that many will seek to ensure they are recovering what they are legally entitled to in light of this judgement when reviewing licence fees post covid.
With so much going on in the world of licensing which is likely to affect the licensed trade, I emphasise the importance about being ‘in the know’ about licensing issues and what your local authority should (or shouldn’t) be doing, with the reasons behind it. I would encourage members of the trade to join the Institute of Licensing to keep on top of the latest goings on.
For the Institute, November is a big month, with it’s signature National Training Conference which will be taking place in Stratford upon Avon from 17 to 19 November in Stratford-upon-Avon. The conference has top quality speakers from across the fields of licensing and from all professions, including the trade, legal, central and local gov- ernment. At the time of writing there were a limited number of spaces still available and as such I hope to see members of the trade there!
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