Private Hire Vehicles

FREQENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES

The Road Safety Act of 2006 laid the ground for the introduction of several new measures. The commencement order bringing measures relating to Private Hire Vehicles was approved at the end of 2007, and sections 53 and 54 of the Act come into force at the end of January 2008 and end of March 2008 respectively. Section 53 applies to England and Wales, 54 has specialist application to London. On the face of it, these sections close loopholes in existing legislation relating to private hire, and have no impact on historic vehicles, but it has caused some who hire out chauffeured historic vehicles to consider their position.

A private hire vehicle is defined in section 80 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 as a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a hackney carriage or public service vehicle or a London cab or a tramcar, which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers. This long standing piece of legislation doesn’t differentiate between old and new vehicles, but there were exemptions that, amongst other things, took cars with drivers on hire for more than a week at a time out of the provisions as well as those cars and drivers hired solely for weddings and funerals.

In advising local authorities of the impending tightening up as a result of the measures in the Road Safety Act of 2006, the Department for Transport said: From the date of commencement, any vehicle which falls within the definition of ‘private hire vehicle’ in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 must be licensed by the council in which the person who arranges the bookings is located (known in the legislation as the ‘controlled district’). Any person who drives a licensed PHV must hold a PHV driver’s licence and any person who arranges hirings using a licensed PHV must hold a PHV operator licence. The only exemptions from licensing will be for vehicles used solely for weddings and funerals.

That effectively means that hiring yourself and your limousine to a holidaying family for a tour of the local district is illegal unless both you and the limousine are appropriately licensed - and the indications are that local authorities tend to have a policy of licensing only new or nearly new vehicles.

The detail
The relevant legislation for England and Wales is contained in Part II of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1976. This Act has 83 sections and various schedules, and applies only to England and Wales. We have not yet begun to establish the position in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Section 80 of the Act contains the definitions. The relevant one being:

‘private hire vehicle’ means a motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a hackney carriage or public service vehicle or a London cab or tramcar, which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers.

Section 46 of the Act contains the basic rules:
(1) Except as authorised by this Part of this Act - (a) no person being the proprietor of any vehicle, not being a hackney carriage or London cab in respect of which a vehicle licence is in force, shall use or permit the same to be used in a controlled district as a private hire vehicle without having for such a vehicle a current licence under section 48 of this Act;
(b) no person shall in a controlled district act as driver of any private hire vehicle without having a current licence under section 51 of this Act;
(c) no person being the proprietor of a private hire vehicle licensed under this Part of this Act shall employ as the driver thereof for the purpose of any hiring any person who does not have a current licence under the said section 51;
(d) no person shall in a controlled district operate any vehicle as a private hire vehicle without having a current licence under section 55 of this Act;
(e) no person licensed under the said section 55 shall in a controlled district operate any vehicle as a private hire vehicle -
(i) if for the vehicle a current licence under the said section 48 is not in force; or
(ii) if the driver does not have a current licence under the said section 51.

The exemption for weddings and funerals is to be found in the first clause of Section 75:
Nothing in this Part of this Act shall -
(a) apply to a vehicle used for bringing passengers or goods within a controlled district in pursuance of a contract for the hire of the vehicle made outside the district if the vehicle is not made available for hire within the district;
(b) [removed by the Road Safety Act 2006] ;
(c) apply to a vehicle while it is being used in connection with a funeral or a vehicle used wholly or mainly, by a person carrying on the business of a funeral director, for the purpose of funerals;
(cc) apply to a vehicle while it is being used in connection with a wedding;

The complication was in understanding the meaning of “controlled district”.  The 1976 Act states that it applies only if both the Police Town Clauses Act of 1847 (yes 1847) applies in a given area and the local authority for that area has resolved that the 1976 Act should apply.  It transpires that Section 15 of the Transport Act of 1985 extends the application of the 1847 Act to taxis in all parts of England and Wales (except London) and that all local authorities save Plymouth (and, of course, London) have adopted the 1976 Act.  The Act thus effectively applies throughout England and Wales.

The big question now is what level of discretion local authorities might enjoy to enable them to exempt certain categories of vehicles - we know of two that are considering doing so in respect of historic cars, but further research is necessary to establish whether they have to power to do so.

We asked the Local Government Association what advice they provide to councils, but were told that the LGA does not provide advice on a council’s responsibilities under the LA Act. We were referred to LACORS - the Local Authorities Co-ordinator of Regulatory Services. They, in turn, referred us to the Institute of Licensing, which is a registered charity providing advice to anyone involved in the business of licensing.

The Institute of Licensing agree the legislation is a mess, and there is little uniformity of approach. They were pleased to hear from FBHVC as they are in the process of preparing a consultation amongst interested parties with a view to proposing that the Department for Transport should consolidate the existing minefield of legislation and regulation into a unified system that will result in a balanced set of regulations that can be applied evenly throughout the country. FBHVC will be included in the consultation.