ALL THINGS LICENSING
Article by Mike Smith, Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety at Guildford Borough Council and Vice-Chair of the Institute of Licensing South East Region.
Please note that this article represents my own views which are not presented as the views of the Institute of Licensing or Guildford Borough Council.
CONFERENCE SEASON
It is party conference season in the political arena where parties gather to set out their agendas and with a General Election looming possibly next year it is likely that these will have been the last conferences before the event.
Conference season is also well and true upon the IoL, with the Taxi Conference having just taken place in Northampton at the beginning of October and the signature National Training Event scheduled to take place in November in Stratford upon Avon.
At the time of writing there are still some limited places available, with details available on the IoL website at
www.instituteoflicensing.org. The theme emanating from the Taxi Conference just passed was very much a need for consistency in the sector by way of national standards and enforcement powers and we await news from Government in this regard.
However, there is some better news for those in Wales with the update on 3 October from the Welsh Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters MS on the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle (Wales) Bill followed by a debate in the Welsh Parliament, and we await updates from Wales with great interest, as it looks as if new legislation is likely.
Elsewhere the national media has reported on FOIs concerning the number of Wolverhampton licence holders in metropolitan areas, including London and Manchester, with the evasion of local standards and erosion of local control which this causes. As I have written previously, this will only be resolved by updated legislation, or at the very least local authorities working constructively together to ensure that not only are standards maintained, but also authorities are properly delegated and resourced to deal with drivers and vehicles licensed elsewhere operating in their areas.
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However, the theme of this month’s article is again inspired by a question I received from a local authority about Compliance Certificates and MOTs.
COMPLIANCE TEST AND MOTS
I am aware that the difference between a compliance test and MOT has been covered in May’s Edition of PHTM by Dave Lawrie, director of the NPHTA, however this article takes a step back and begins from first principles, as there is a difference between a council vehicle compliance test/check and the issuing of a Compliance Certificate, which has many on both sides confused.
MOT TEST
Firstly, starting with the MOT which most of us as general road users will be familiar with; standard road vehicles are due an MOT when the vehicle reaches three years’ old. However, section 47 Road Traffic Act 1988 requires a ‘taxi’ (defined as a hackney carriage by the Transport Act 1985) licensed under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 to have an MOT after a year (from being new). This does not apply to private hire vehicles, which still must be MOT’d when the vehicle reaches three years’ old. This is explained in section 32 Best Practice Guidance (current 2010 version).
So hackney carriages have to have an MOT at one year old, private hire vehicles at three years’ old - so far so good. Vehicles will be issued with an MOT Certificate after they have passed the test, which is also recorded on the national database.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AND MOT & COUNCIL TEST
However an MOT will only test a vehicle for roadworthiness against the MOT inspection criteria as directed by VOSA and it is likely that the licensing authority will want to ensure that the vehicle being presented for licensing meets its criteria, or is adhering to its conditions during the course of a licence.
VEHICLE SPECIFICATION
Remembering that the principle licensing legislation allows the council to set criteria in respect of vehicle specification: • For hackney carriages; Section 47 Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 allows conditions
NOVEMBER 2023 PHTM
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