Safe Speed Forums

I think you also need a licence to drive it, a psv for a bus and a pgv for a minibus (depends on seats ?)
The bus also needs to be registered as such....and a minibus (9 seats) needs to be registered with tfl...and they check on it....
A company I work for costed the price of getting guys into london...they ended-up by using taxis...cheaper...and deductible. Big carbon footprint though.............

One of my telecoms systems/computer contracts is for the local taxi company, so I've become quite familiar with the rules in our district (North Norfolk).

Both Hackney and Private Hire cars here require an annual inspection, which I understand is about £120 now. Hackneys then require taxi signs and meters, but private hire cars are only required to display the registration plate on the rear (yellow=PH, white=Hackney). There is nothing to prevent somebody without a taxi driver's license from driving either a Hackney carriage or a private-hire car, so long as it is not for hire and reward. The usual rules apply about PH cars being for pre-booked jobs only (which always seems daft to me -- what's to stop somebody booking on the spot?), and that Hackneys may only be hailed in the street within their own licensing area (which leads to stupid scenarios where we have twin towns and the river through the middle is also the district council boundary, so taxis are allowed to pick up somebody from one side of the bridge but not from 100 yards away on the other side).

Of course, we don't have anywhere with congestion charging in this mostly rural area, but I'm told that North Norfolk taxis are exempt from paying the congestion charge if going down to central London with somebody.

Licensing conditions vary wildly from one local authority to the next - and there are just under 400 of them acruss the UK! Some have licensing conditions for the vehicle (like minimum seat sizes, door apertures, type approval conditions etc) as well as the driver (like "the knowledge"). Many have bi-annual roadworthiness tests too.

The "pre-booking" thing used to work well before mobile phones but now it's so easy to "pre-book" just a couple of minutes before stepping into the cab that the "Hackney" trade are getting really fed up with it.

As for buses, there are a load more problems than just getting a licence to drive the vehicle. Depepnding on the nature of the service you're applying to run, you'd have to lodge a set route with the authorities in that area and a timetable...

I've seen something in the rules for this district about minimim seat sizes and door apertures. The rules here also restrict a new taxi license to cars under 10 years old, although vehicles already registered may continue in service beyond that age. Apparently the licensing authority was considering reducing the age limit for new taxis to 5 years, although I haven't heard if anything came of that.

The driver licensing here has no specific tests of either local knowledge or driving ability, just minimum age 21, criminal records check, and no serious driving convictions. Most of the drivers at my local taxi firm have two licenses. One is the North Norfolk Hackney/Private Hire license, the other is issued by Norfolk County Council, required for school transport, daycare patients, etc. They're always complaining about the total lack of coordination between district and county, e.g. having to submit a new criminal records check when renewing one license even if they've only just received a certificate a few weeks earlier for the other license.



How exactly is "pre-booked" defined anyway? Scenario: Potential passenger walks up to private-hire car in the street, asks the driver if he could book a taxi with his office. "To pick up from here as soon as possible." Driver calls base, books request, is told he's free to do the job.

"You're in luck, we happen to have a car available right this moment. Jump in."

Pre-booked? I would say so.

I can't help thinking that most people just don't understand the difference between Hackney and private hire anyway. They just want a taxi. I certainly didn't understand all the implications and differences until I started doing tech work for the company and got talking with them about all the legal stuff.

TfL states that a taxi is exempt only when used for hire. If the driver is using it as personal transport it is not exempt

So, a taxi driver must pick up a fare before he goes through the cameras to avoid the charge that day? What if he lives in the suburbs but does his work in the West End?

I can't see how this can work.

_________________
Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

In Blackpool both Hackneys and Private Hire have calender meters (pre programmed with rates so automatically choose the correct rate for date and time). Private Hire also have large door stickers. Currently have 1 pit test (£100+ per test) per year, but that is about to change to 3 tests per year. There are also spot checks on cars. There has also been discussions about putting a maximum age limit on cars, and not surprisingly the black cab owners are not happy, the private hire company my brother drives for already has a 7year old limit.

Is that actually a licensing requirement, or just local convention?

Hackneys here can have a manual meter, as in the rate (+25, +50% etc.) can be set as required at the start of a journey. For example, the local company here doesn't increase rates after 11 p.m., as allowed (but not required) by the council tariff.

Private hire cars here aren't required to have a meter at all.

Not 100% (my brother is the taxi driver (PH) in the family) but as far as I know its a licensing requirement. For an out of town job the office will negotiate a fixed rate. Normal rates to be charged are set by the coucil and the meters updated. He had to have his meter reset last week as the rates were increased by 15% - as a sweatner for the introduction of the 3 pit tests a year.

I hate coucnils that have a maximum age limit. To my mind, that's just a cop-out for poor licensing conditions. If their conditions were any good, the vehicles would be safe and fit for purpose anyway - no matter how old they were!



Yes, I agree. I think that's why the hackney drivers are getting so fed up with it! In areas where the driver licensing requirements are tougher (like the London "knowledge"), I could see a clear benefit in using a Hackney. The drivers know their way around and (at least in my experience) act professionally and courteously. But London is a special case with a lot of the work being "street-hailed". With Private Hires, it's all a bit more of an unknown - which might be more of a worry for women on their own at night I guess.