WHAT’S TH
5) Your passenger gets into your vehicle, you let your oper- ator know - 3 points
6) You take the passenger to their destination and drop them off, you let the op know - 3 points
There are trade matters coming which you cannot possibly imagine; this topic is just one of them. Get your voices heard, get some support, be a part of the largest national association, the only association that represents the entire trade including:
l Hackney carriage drivers l Private hire drivers l Private hire operators l Trade suppliers l Local associations as affiliate members
7) Go back to 1) and repeat the process, can you see the pat- tern here? but you have not done anything wrong at all. Imagine the appeal……and the added points for appealing?
And that’s just one alleged offence for which you can receive points! What about failing to wear a seat belt? Despite being exempt whilst carrying passengers, (or when plying for hire in area for hackney carriages) it is within the list on most of these penalty points schemes.
It must be stated clearly however, that not all “totting up” procedures are instant suspensions or revocations; many may result in a referral to licensing committee - some are suspen- sions, some are revocations.
This is better than the Royal Variety Performance the more we read into it! Can you see now the need for national stan- dards that we keep encouraging?
IS IT LEGAL?
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Join the
National Private Hire and Taxi Association
NOW! 0161 280 2800
info@nphta.co.uk www.nphta.co.uk
Well, according to legislation, “no fine or penalty shall be issued by anyone other than a judge in a Magistrates’ Court”, but this is often dismissed as “we are not issuing legal penalty points, merely internal licensing matters on a licence issued by our- selves” - which in reality is true.
But is it fair to have penalties issued without the right to a fair hearing? Not at all; it is actually a direct breach of the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) “right to a fair trial”.
SO WHY INTRODUCE THIS AT ALL?
Quite simple really: to reduce the need for licensing committee hearings; to save officer time in preparing reports; make up- coming committee hearings a foregone conclusion since a pat- tern has emerged, regardless of whether that pattern would exist had it not been for the points scheme; to provide officers with the power to issue punishment without the possibility of it backfiring.
It’s all about the money, the time, and of course the power, but let’s not forget, it is “a way to improve standards and encourage compliance”.
IS THIS NATIONAL?
This is as described in the opening paragraph, a growing trend; the more local authorities that adopt these hairbrained schemes, the easier it becomes for it to become a national stan- dard.
For this article we may have focused on the Woking consulta- tion and scheme, but this is by far not an isolated issue.
8 OCTOBER 2020
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