Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Operators, Drivers and Vehicles are principally governed by the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, Town Police Clauses Act 1847, Council’s Byelaws and the Rules, Regulations and Conditions set by the Licensing and General Purposes Committee.
Should Operators, Drivers or Proprietors of Vehicles commit an offence or breach those rules, regulations or conditions of licence, persons involved are asked to attend the offices for an interview and then once investigations are completed, letters are sent out detailing the outcome and a permanent record kept on the persons’ file. The outcome of investigations may result in no further action being taken, penalty points being awarded, a formal warning, referral to the Licensing Sub-Committee and/or prosecution.
The aim of a penalty point scheme is to work in conjunction with other enforcement options. It provides a formalised stepped enforcement plan. The purpose of the scheme is to record misdemeanours and to act as a record of driver’s behaviour and conduct so as to ascertain whether they are a fit and proper person. It does not prejudice the Council’s ability to take other actions.
The primary objective of the penalty points scheme is improve the levels of compliance and help improve the standards, safety and protection of the travelling public.
Penalty points remain for twelve months. The period is on a roll forward basis, so as to allow any older points to be considered as spent and therefore excluded from the running total recorded against any individual licensee.
Issue of Penalty Points
- Complaints from the public concerning significant breaches of conduct will be subject to investigation by Officers and may be reported to the Licensing Sub-Committee for the issue of discretionary points.
- Where a licensee accumulates 12 or more penalty points in any 3 year period, the matter will be referred to the Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee for the Sub-Committee to decide whether the driver is a fit and proper person. The Licensing Sub-Committee may then suspend or revoke a licence, or issue a warning to the Licensee, depending upon the circumstances. Periods of suspension of a licence by a Sub-Committee will be dependent on the nature of the breaches of the legislation/conditions and the compliance history of the individual. Suspension periods will normally vary between 7 to 31 days.
- Penalty Points will remain current for 3 years from the date the penalty points were issued. Points issued to either the proprietor of a vehicle or a driver will be confirmed in writing normally within 10 working days from the discovery of the contravention.
- The system will operate without prejudice to the Council’s ability to take other action that it is entitled to take under legislation, byelaws and regulations.
- Any disputes regarding the issuing of penalty points will be referred to the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Sub-Committee who will have the discretion to award a greater number of points than displayed on the tariff, if the complaint is upheld. Drivers must appeal any points issued by Officers to the Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Sub-Committee within 21 days.
- The list of offences/breaches of condition can be found in our Penalty Points Scheme (pdf)
Certain infringements may result in both drivers, proprietors or operators receiving penalty points. Points may be awarded to one or several persons depending upon the nature of the infringement, however, each case must be determined on its own merits. Certain matters are specific to hackney carriages, private hire drivers or private hire operators.
The Maximum points applicable refers to points issued by Officers. If the matter is referred to the Licensing Sub-Committee the Sub-Committee may impose up to 12 points.