Meeting documents

Nathan March (South Bucks District Council), Julien Alison (Oxford City Council) and Clyde Masson (Reading Borough Council) Licensing Managers will be attending for this item.

The purpose of this item is to look at standardisation of taxi licensing across the Thames Valley and how partners can work together to ensure that the public can travel as safely as possible.

http://www.local.gov.uk/publications/-/journal_content/56/10180/7111867/PUBLICATION

Nathan March (South Bucks and Chiltern District Council), Julian Alison (Oxford City Council) and Clyde Masson (Reading Borough Council) Licensing Managers attended for this item.  The purpose of this item is to look at standardisation of taxi licensing across the Thames Valley and how partners can work together to ensure that the public can travel as safely as possible.

These main points were covered as part of the presentation:-

·         Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle legislation is primarily concentrated in the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. The legislation provides a broad framework for the licensing of drivers, vehicles and operators but the detail of how this is done, including standards and conditions, is the responsibility of individual councils.

·         There is also the Deregulation Act 2015 which consolidates and updates the laws governing both taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs). Section 10 of the Bill extends the standard duration of a taxi or PHV licence to three years to reduce paperwork. Section 11 allows minicab firms to subcontract bookings to firms licensed in a different district which could be a concern on the public protection/enforcement side.

·         The difference between a taxi and PHV is that a PHV unlike a taxi cannot ply for hire or wait on ranks, which means all journeys must be pre-booked in advance through a licensed operator. It is an offence for PHVs to pick up passengers from any location unless pre-booked.

·         Local Authority core functions include setting the local framework, considering licence applications and undertaking inspection and enforcement activities.

A series of questions were then asked by Members with the following responses:-

Regulation

·         If there is an incident driver conduct can be investigated. There are regular checks and policies and procedures in place which are constantly reviewed and also looked at by Scrutiny Committees. Policies take into account safeguarding issues.

·         The majority of the trade have high standards but there is a small percentage which the Council keeps under review.

·         Councillors are fully trained – no councillor should be permitted to sit on a Licensing Committee without having been formally trained.

·         A Licensing Authority must not grant a taxi or PHV driver’s licence unless it is satisfied that the applicant is a fit and proper person to hold the licence.

·         A Council may only take action against a vehicle or driver that it has licensed which means that there is nothing a council can do if a vehicle or driver licenced elsewhere is operating in their area (unless officers have delegated powers from other Councils to enforce those drivers/vehicles). That is why the issue of cross border hiring is perhaps the most acute problem facing many Councils today.

·         For example a driver applied to a council for a licence only to be refused after the police presented concerns to the Licensing Committee; the driver then applied to the neighbouring council, who had the same information but chose to licence the driver. The driver now operates in the area of the first Council who refused their licence. This poses a risk to communities everywhere. In many areas there are disparities in conditions or licences because there are lower standards in driver testing, cheaper licence fees or less rigorous/fewer pre-licence checks.

·         A Member commented that there had been recent examples where licences had been revoked but they had appealed to court and the licence had been given back. Other examples included concerns about taxi drivers but there was not enough evidence to prosecute and the taxi driver carried on working. It was important that the Local Criminal Justice System treated these issues seriously to protect the public.

·         However, it is recognised that a pressing social need still has to be present when considering licencing. The concept of a ‘pressing social need’ has been used by the ECHR as a basis for assessing whether or not an interference with a qualified right is necessary in a democratic society. So in certain circumstances public authorities can interfere with the private life of an individuals if there is a pressing social need for doing so.

·         In terms of enforcement Councils carried out spot checks on vehicles but there was a discussion about whether this was regular enough. There were usually two vehicle enforcement checks a year. The checks often included the Licensing Authority and the Police. It was difficult for taxis to avoid the spot checks as they were undertaken in prime areas. A taxi driver could be immediately suspended on the spot. General enforcement operations occur much more frequently in some Districts – especially urban ones – in order that officers have a presence within the night time economy to uphold public safety and address any driver non-compliance.

·         In Oxford City there was a taxi marshal scheme and it was helpful if the police could be involved in assisting the Licensing Officer with undertaking enforcement work particularly during evening shifts when they were not involved in other duties.

·         The PCC expressed concern that there was no commonality of fees across the three Counties as currently there is no inclination to stop people seeking a licence outside of the area that they predominantly work.

Information Sharing

·         It was good practice for Councils to meet or communicate regularly with Licensing Committees and officers in neighbouring councils to ensure that critical information is shared and that there is a consistency and robustness in decision making. Taxi Forums are also held with the trade although as many of them work part time it is difficult to get full attendance. It was important to have no geographical boundaries in terms of consistent policies and shared information.

• There is no replacement for the Notifiable Occupations Scheme, which was a formal ability to share information. This has been challenged and is no longer used by many police forces. A replacement is being developed, but in the meantime all licensing authorities are using their local relationships to continue the flow of information.
• A recommendation was made that there should be a national information sharing protocol between Councils and the Police so that if a driver was arrested their licence could be suspended or revoked. The PCC was asked whether he could raise this issue with the Home Secretary.
• Another recommendation put forward was having a regional database to show any licences that had been refused so that they could not get a licence elsewhere.

·         A proposal was put about having a dedicated licensing expert in the police (akin to the Force Licensing Officer) to take the TVP lead in taxi licensing to provide consistency across the Thames Valley area rather than leaving it to local command structures.

Safeguarding

·         There are regular meetings on safeguarding between Licensing Authorities, Police and the Local Authority Designated Officer (Safeguarding).

·         There was representation from the Thames Valley on the Home Office Licensing Safeguarding Working Party.

·         County Councils are responsible for Home to School Transport and work closely with Licensing Authorities.

·         Bullfinch was a ‘wake up’ call on the issues of safeguarding and the use of taxis. Regular meetings are held and there is a Joint Operation Framework to maintain standards in Oxfordshire. This ensures that the same vetting process is used in the County and also mandatory safeguarding training. If drivers do not undertake the required training then their licence would not be renewed. If there is a complaint about a driver carrying out school transport services then the County Council will ensure that the driver concerned does not take children as passengers. However, this does not stop that driver continuing to carry out his normal taxi duties, unless the County Council informs the District Council of the original issue.

·         Training for taxi drivers was mandatory and Barnardo’s and other agencies provide training on CSE and vulnerable people. Some training sessions can have 70 drivers per session and there are also knowledge tests about being a taxi driver. The driver has to pass the test. However, training will not stop drivers committing criminal acts. It was important for the trade to understand safeguarding issues and that they discuss them within the taxi community. Training also should be face to face rather than online.

·         There have been some excellent examples of taxi drivers taking girls to hospital or taking them home and being community minded.

·         In terms of safeguarding the other area that needed to be addressed was Home to School Transport to ensure that safeguarding was paramount. School runs represented only a small % of drivers work overall.

·         There was also an issue about sub-contracting and inconsistencies about whether an adult accompanies a child and this needed to be addressed with the principal contractor and monitored regularly.

Recommendations:

1.       That the PCC/Chief Constable be asked to consider looking at Council funding / part-funding a dedicated Police Taxi Licensing Officer specifically to ensure prompt information sharing about incidents, drivers, arrests, charges, convictions – so that Police Licensing becomes the central point for information sharing.

2.       a)That the PCC be asked to discuss the possibility of having a national information sharing protocol with the Home Secretary and that in the meantime local Councils harmonise their policies as far as possible.

b) That consideration be given to having a regional database (possibly held by the Police Licensing Officer) to show drivers who had been refused licences.

3.      That the PCC be also asked to discuss the possibility with the Home Secretary to consider setting national standards for drivers, vehicle operators, a national standard of vetting, and nationally set fees and charges – these would reduce concerns re: public safety, and remove the inclination for people and vehicles to seek a licence outside of the area within which they predominantly work.

4.      That the PCC be asked to raise the issue at the next Local Criminal Justice Board regarding licensing appeals to gain an understanding of why licences were given back to drivers after they had been refused by their Local Authority.