Express & Star

New rules could mean fines for taxi drivers

Bosses in Wolverhampton are looking at introducing fines for taxi drivers who apply for licences and then fail to turn up in person for public hearings.

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Taxi drivers could face fines

A report to the city’s Non-Statutory Licensing Committee this week is proposing to charge licence applicants a fee of £70 if they do not attend their own individual personal hearing without providing a reasonable excuse in advance.

Licensing bosses say the charge will also need to be payable prior to any taxi drivers booking a new applicant.

Ross Cook, the council’s director of environment, said: “Anyone applying for a licence to drive a private hire vehicle or a Hackney carriage who have any criminal or motoring convictions that are recent and/or serious must attend a hearing to discuss their past behaviour.

“During this the applicant will meet with an authorised officer and also a council solicitor.

“In the case of private hire licensing, the hearing appointments are booked by the applicant using an online system which allows them to choose a date and time convenient to them. We then send an automated email to the applicant confirming the time, date and location of the hearing.

“If they are absent at the time of the hearing, the officer will then check with our reception to see if they have arrived. Failing that, someone will telephone them,” he added.

“Should we still get no response, our officers will check with the back-office staff to see if there has been any correspondence informing us that the applicant will not be attending.

“If we get an explanation at any stage, the hearing can then be deferred and rescheduled at the applicant’s convenience.

“If someone cannot attend a hearing, the officer has two choices. They can determine the application without them being there, or they can choose to defer the decision and allow for a new appointment to be made.

“Deferring hearings has often resulted in a lot of wasted time and quite often drivers fail to attend the hearings that we re-book with them and still don’t provide a reason.”

Mr Cook added that due to the shortage of appointments, licensing managers would encourage officers to hold hearings in the absence of any applicants if they failed to attend without providing a reasonable excuse.

Recently, a council hearing went ahead in an applicant’s absence and the officer decided to refuse them a licence, in accordance with the council’s guidelines to breaching licensing conditions. The decision was then appealed at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court.

The ruling body decided that – on the basis of evidence submitted by the person appealing – the officer was wrong to refuse to grant a licence. In court, the applicant failed to provide a reasonable excuse for their absence at the hearing.

“To avoid this kind of situation from happening again, a new feature is being added to the online hearing appointment booking system,” said Mr Cook.

“The applicant will receive an email ten days before the hearing, reminding them to attend their appointment, or that they have until seven days beforehand to reschedule it.

“It is now proposed that, should there be no reasonable excuse provided nor any attempt to reschedule the hearing appointment, if the applicant fails to attend a hearing they will be required to pay for the cost of a new hearing before making an additional appointment.

“This reminder will advise them that failure to attend a hearing without cancelling or giving an acceptable excuse will mean they will have to pay for it before booking another.

“The cost of a 30-minute hearing has been put at £70, using the chargeable fee of £67 per hour for a section leader and £72 per hour for a solicitor. The applicant won’t be charged for any additional time if the hearing takes longer than scheduled,” he added.