Have your say on our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy

The key changes to the policy have been outlined below:

Enhanced requirements for Private Hire operators

• All applicants for the grant or renewal of a Private Hire operator must undergo and interview with Licensing Officers as part of the application process. The interview will include an assessment of the applicants licensing knowledge, compliance history and evaluation of their business practices / methods of operations. Applicants that do not satisfy Council Officers that they are competent and will operate their business in an acceptable manner will have their licence refused.
  • The following additional conditions will be attached to Private Hire Operator Licences: 
  • The Privat Hire Operator must inform the customer at the time of acceptance of the booking that the booking they have made will be sub-contracted to another Private Hire Operator. If this is not a known at the time of the booking then the customer must be informed as soon as practicable (and in any event, the customer must be informed before the vehicle is dispatched to undertake the booking).
  • Private Hire operators must maintain records of all sub-contracted booking. These records must include (as a minimum):
    • The time and date that the booking was subcontracted to the third-party operator.
    • The time and date that the customer was informed that their booking had been sub-contracted to.
    • The name and Private Hire Operator number of the operator that the booking was subcontracted to
    • The details of the vehicle and driver that undertook the sub-contracted booking.
• Inspections / compliance visits of Private Hire Operators will include a detailed assessment of any arrangements that are in place for the sub-contracting of bookings to other operators. A Zero-tolerance approach will be taken in relation to the failure to comply with requirements of a Private Hire Operator licence with robust action being taken in the event of operator non- compliance with our licensing requirements. 

The above requirements will apply to existing licence holders in addition to those that apply for a new licence. The requirements in relation to existing licence will be introduced by way of an implementation scheme that will be published following the consultation.

Review of conviction policy

It is proposed that our policy on the relevance of previous convictions is amended as follows: 

• Greater clarity will be provided through the introduction of additional categories of convictions. New categories will include:  certain motoring offences, offences connected to the operation of the businesses, cultivation of illegal drugs, offences relating to discrimination, offences relating to public safety and breaches
  • Immigration offences,
  • Certain motoring offences,
  • Offences connected to the operation of the businesses,
  • Cultivation of illegal drugs,
  • Offences relating to discrimination,
  • Offences relating to public safety,
  • Breaches or environmental legislation
• The minimum time periods that must elapse before a person is considered to be suitable for licensing will be reviewed and compared with other standards throughout the country (including the national statutory guidance) with periods increasing where required. The time periods detailed in the current policy will not decrease and will match or exceed that of all other neighbouring authorities.

Removal of limit on Hackney Carriages and action to increase the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles.

The number of Hackney Carriage licences that can be in effect at any one time is currently limited to 52. 

Government guidance clearly states that Councils should not impose a limit and should instead allow market / commercial forces to dictate the number of Hackney Carriages that are able to operate within the area. It is therefore proposed that the current limit of 52 Hackney Carriages in Rotherham be removed, but with a requirement that any new Hackney Carriages are capable of carrying a passenger seated in a wheelchair.

Confirmation of the decision making process

It will be made clear that most licensing decisions will be made by licensing officers with referrals to the Council’s Licensing Board generally being limited to:

• those cases where there is a clear breach of the Council’s policy, and
• licensing officers are of the opinion that it may be appropriate for an application be refused, or for an existing licence to be revoked (with the exception of cases where it is in the interests of public safety for a revocation to take effect immediately). 

Clarification regarding application requirements

It is proposed that the revised policy will include the following:

• An outline of the processes that will apply to the handling of applications for driver, vehicle, and operator licences.  This will provide clarity in relation to the required documentation, timescales, and any specific requirements regarding individual elements.

• Details in relation to the application process for former licence holders that had their licence revoked due to their involvement in a prior criminal investigation (which they have subsequently been released from). 

Additional requirements and improved guidance around vehicle signage

The policy will provide clear guidance on the placement of vehicle signage (including door signs).  It will also introduce a requirement that all required signage must be permanently fixed to the vehicle by default.  However, we will allow deviations from this requirement in cases where if the method of fixing allows the signage to be placed in accordance with the policy requirements and there is no history of formal action being taken against the licence holder as a result of non-compliance with signage requirements (during the period of the licence). 

In addition to the above, a new requirement will be introduced for the display of a vehicle licence plate on the front bumper / grille.

Amendment to the vehicle age and emission policy

It is being proposed that our Vehicle Age and Emissions policy is amended as follows: 

• A vehicle which is not licensed at the point of application must have been registered (or in the case of imported vehicles, manufactured) on or after the 1st of September 2015.
• Licences will not be renewed in respect of any licensed vehicle that was first registered (or in the case of imported vehicles, manufactured) more than 10 years prior to the date that the renewed licence will take effect. This is however subject to the exemptions below:
  1. Vehicles that meet the Council’s Enhanced Quality Standards (detailed below) must be aged under 12 years old on the date that the renewed licence would take effect.
  2. Vehicles that meet the Council’s Enhanced Quality Standards and are capable of carrying a passenger seated in a wheelchair must be aged under 15 years old on the date that the renewed licence would take effect.
  3. Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (as defined at the time that the vehicle was first licensed) that also meet the Council’s enhanced quality standards must be aged under 15 years old on the date that the renewed licence would take effect.

The Enhanced Quality Standards are: 

• The vehicle must pass the Council’s compliance test and be must free from minor issues at the time that the test is passed.  A minor issue is one that on its own would not result in a test failure at that time, but in the opinion of the tester will require remedy before the next test in order to avoid becoming a failure item (advisory notes provided at the time of an MOT inspection are an example of a minor issue).
• The vehicle’s emissions must comply with, or exceed, the Euro 6 emissions standard  (any vehicle manufactured after the 1st of September 2015 should meet this standard)
• The vehicle’s bodywork must be in a condition that does not adversely affect the overall appearance of the vehicle.
• The interior trim, panels, seating, carpets, and upholstery are clean and free from any condition that would adversely affect the appearance of the vehicle interior.

Compliance with emissions requirements will be assessed with reference to the information detailed on the vehicle’s V5 (logbook) and thorough emissions testing would be carried out at our testing depot (this is included as part of the compliance test).

The assessment will be primarily carried out by the Council’s authorised vehicle testers at our testing depot. but this may occasionally be carried out by other persons authorised to make the assessment on behalf of the Council (for example, licensing officers)

The exemptions details in bullet points 1,2,3 above will only apply whilst the vehicle meets or exceeds the enhanced quality standards. If a Vehicle aged over 10 is found (at any time) not to meet Enhanced Quality Standards, then the licence will immediately be suspended until such time the standards are met.

In conjunction with the above the frequency that vehicles are required to undergo a compliance test at the Council’s testing depot will be amended.

The current requirements are: 

• Vehicles under 3 years old will need to be tested once a year.
• Vehicles between 3 and 5 years old will need to be tested twice a year.
• Vehicles over 5 years old will need to be tested three times a year.

In order to incentivise the purchase of newer vehicles, whilst ensuring that older vehicles remain suitable for use as licensed vehicles, it is being proposed that the test frequencies are amended as follows:

• Vehicles under 5 years old will need to be tested once a year.
• Vehicles between 5 and 7 years old will need to be tested twice a year.
• Vehicles over 7 years old will need to be tested three times a year.

Criminal record check to be carried out on vehicle owners.

It is proposed that all vehicle owners are to undergo a DBS as part of the application process (existing drivers are already required to provide an enhanced DBS as part of their driver licence application and are therefore exempt from this requirement).

If you would like to take part in the consultation you can do so by clicking the link below;

Consultation: Have your say on our Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy.