THE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE NPHTA COMMENT
This is not the case. High standards are maintained by all local authorities with only minor deviations in criteria, for example CCTV, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, vehicle colour, tinted window restrictions etc.
To be clear powers to oversee proper regulation refers to legislation as opposed to local conditions; local councils ALL have the power to enforce regulation as national legislation is set by parliament.
Furthermore, it may be helpful for Chris Vince to look at the Statutory Standards 2020 which introduced the NR3 Database as a mandatory condition. He would then understand that it is now very difficult (although not impossible) for a driver who has lost their licence in one district to obtain a licence anywhere else in the country.
Gill Furniss - Labour MP for Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough
Suggests that there is a lack of scrutiny by other councils, which undermines safeguarding and puts the public at risk. She states her licensing team do not have the powers to check that out-of-town vehicles are being driven by properly licensed drivers.
NPHTA COMMENT I disagree with this. ALL local authorities have very strict inspections and compliance checks. It is also now NATIONAL legislation that all drivers take safeguarding courses. Furthermore, council enforcement officers have the powers to check for all criminal offences not only that a driver is licensed but is displaying his licence on duty as these are criminal matters NOT local conditions.
Chris Vince reply: Within his response, Chris incorrectly referred to the issue as being taxis, this issue is primarily focused on private hire vehicles NOT taxis.
NPHTA COMMENT DfT Best Practice Guidance states that all vehicle signage should be removed from private hire vehicles to stop the confusion between a taxi and a private hire vehicle, which is exactly what Chris is referring to.
Most councils require council issued licensed plates on the front and rear of the vehicles which verifies that the vehicle is indeed legitimate and safe - quite the opposite to his suggestion that vehicles and drivers are
PHTM NOVEMBER 2024 not checked and vetted thoroughly enough.
Chris then goes on to, once again, suggest that this issue is due to the Deregulation Act - just for clarity, taxis have a top light not a roof top box as referred to.
Jim Shannon - Democratic Unionist Party Strangford Seems to suggest that not all licensed taxi drivers (or private hire drivers as is the actual case here) are thoroughly vetted nor are their insurance documents.
NPHTA COMMENT This clearly shows a lack of understanding of national legislation, statutory standards and conditions adopted by all local authorities to thoroughly vet all their licensed drivers and all their licensed vehicles to ensure they are fit and proper.
Chris Vince reply: His next reply focuses more on reducing income from locally licensed drivers and the fact that drivers licensed elsewhere have no need to sit local knowledge tests for any other region in which they may receive bookings from their operator.
He went on to explain that the trade is being undermined and to describe how he feels that ministers should be far more supportive of their local trade.
NPHTA COMMENT This approach and desire to be more supportive of local drivers is one which I personally very much welcome.
Rachael Maskell - Labour/Co-op MP for York Central A very minor comment in length, but very important in content - we see her reference the Deregulation Act again as being the sole cause of this problem and she expresses the desire for it to be appealed.
To be clear, the Deregulation Act 2015 did TWO things: l
To regulate the period for which licences are issued: driver licence - 3 years, operator licence - 5 years, vehicle licence - 1 year
l
To clarify that it was legal for a private hire operator in one area to ‘subcontract’ to an operator licensed by another area and so enable legitimate use of vehicles and drivers correctly licensed by the same authority and therefore comply with the triple lock rule
The Deregulation Act did absolutely nothing else. 7
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