CAUSECAUSE
It is widely accepted that the reason for the increase is/was due to the arrival of Uber. Whether this increase was beneficial to the residents of Lewes district is a matter of personal judgement.
It is a fact that when Uber applied for the renewal of its short-term Brighton & Hove operators licence in 2018, it advertised on its website to potential drivers that they should go to Lewes DC to gain licences to work in Brighton & Hove. This was on the basis that Brighton & Hove has an extensive ‘Knowledge Test’ where as the Lewes DC knowledge test is much easier which would make any waiting time much shorter.
Effectively going to Lewes for a licence was known to be a quick route to be able to predominantly work in Brighton & Hove.
This was brought to the attention of the Brighton & Hove Licensing Committee at the time of the application at a public meeting. Licensing Panel Member, Green Councillor Lizzie Deane, at the time expressed great concern to Uber for doing this and consequently Uber removed that information from its website to appease the council.
Lewes DC then had a major increase of 170% of vehicle licences being issued which shows in the chart for the 2018/19 period and has increased exponentially.
HOWEVER….HOWEVER....
It is notoriously well known that the vast majority of drivers who gain a Lewes private hire driver/vehicle licence have no intention of working in the Lewes district area. In fact, most of these drivers/vehicles predominantly work outside of the Lewes district, and mostly in the city of Brighton & Hove.
Whilst this is not illegal, it is certainly not in the spirit of the law and public safety but is fully encouraged by Uber. This practice obviously discourages drivers from gaining a licence in Brighton & Hove and flies in the face of legislators and their desire for “localism” as has been stated in various case law.
To date, we have provided over 130 reports of Lewes drivers/vehicles contravening respective licensing conditions, such as missing rear licence plates and or
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missing repeater door licence plates, which still continues to this day.
Additionally, we have Lewes DC private hire drivers/vehicles using Brighton & Hove taxi ranks which have been reported to Brighton & Hove Licensing to take action.
What reason is there to reduce the requirement for a Lewes private hire licence application?
FACTS AND FIGURES FACTS AND FIGURES
Facts show that an applicant for a Lewes DC private hire driver/vehicle licence indicates that there is no intention to work within the Lewes licensing authority area, although this is not illegal.
Figures supplied show that there is no decrease in Lewes DC private hire vehicle numbers and with the supplied information shows there is in fact an increase. This is contrary to the misinformation recently published in the press originating from Councillor MacLeod (Lewes DC).
There is however an absolute and clearly documented decrease in Brighton & Hove licensed private hire vehicles.
EFFECT EFFECT
With lower requirements needed to gain a Lewes DC private hire driver/vehicle licence, this has a knock-on effect for the Brighton & Hove Licensing department in reduced applications and reduced revenue for sustainment. Brighton & Hove issues a dual licence for a hackney carriage and private hire driver with the knowledge/route test being exactly the same. This is what Lewes DC currently requires.
OCTOBER 2023 PHTM
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