Waverley Borough Council

LICENSING AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE

13 JANUARY 2020

Title:
Taxi and Private Hire Enforcement – Delegations for Surrey Joint Warranting

Portfolio Holder:	Cllr Nick Palmer, Portfolio Holder for Operational & Enforcement

Head of Service:	Richard Homewood

Head of Environmental & Regulatory Services

Key decision:	No

Access:	Public

:

Note pursuant to Section 100B(5) of the Local Government Act 1972

1. Purpose and summary
1.1 Waverley Borough Council is the licensing authority for the purposes of regulating taxi and private hire services in the Borough. This report seeks approval for making arrangements between Surrey Licensing Authorities to introduce joint warranting for Licensing Officers. This will enable improved enforcement of the taxi and private hire trade across the County and improve safety within the licensed hackney carriage and private hire vehicle service operating in Surrey. 2.0 Background 2.1 Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles are licensed by Local Authorities under powers arising from the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 and Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976. 2.2 The legislation gives a power for an officer authorised by a local authority to inspect vehicles and take enforcement action against drivers and vehicles licensed by that authority, including the immediate suspension of vehicles for reasons of public safety. 2.3 However as there is no geographical restriction on where a licensed vehicle can travel, journeys can and often do start and/or finish outside their licensed area. This means that often authorised officers of one authority will regularly come across vehicles licenced by another authority operating in their areas. 3. Proposed changes 3.1 Officers only have the legal power to inspect and take action against vehicles if they have been authorised in writing by the authority which licensed that vehicle. As such, an officer in one authority will not have the power to inspect or take action against the number of vehicles operating in its area which are licensed by other authorities. 3.2 This can lead to situations where officers in one authority, for example Waverley, are unable to take action against a vehicle licensed by another authority which may be defective, despite the vehicle being present and operating in Waverley. This could lead to a situation where a defective vehicle continues to operate, potentially endangering public safety and undermining public confidence in the licensed taxi trade. 3.3 It is therefore considered necessary to enable a scheme of joint warranting across Surrey, whereby Licensing Officers of any Surrey Authority would be able to inspect and take enforcement action against any vehicle licensed in Surrey. 3.4 Such joint working arrangements between Local Authorities is also regarded as ‘Best Practice’ in the draft Statutory Guidance issued under s.177 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 recently consulted upon by the Department for Transport. 3.5 Additionally, joint warranting would further promote the work undertaken in 2017-18 in partnership with the Surrey Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB) to develop a co-ordinated response to child sexual exploitation (CSE) across the County by adopting a consistent convictions policy and mandatory CSE training for all drivers in Surrey. 3.6 The proposal is that the hackney carriage and private hire enforcement powers, as set out in Appendix A of this report, are delegated to the other Surrey Authorities (whilst retaining our own). It is also proposed that Waverley Borough Council receives similar delegated enforcement powers from the other Surrey Authorities. 3.7 Each authority would retain the ability to grant and renew licences; those functions will not be delegated. The enforcement functions would be delegated. 3.8 Each authority would be responsible for ensuring that the officers delegated are suitably trained and experienced in this type of work. 3.9 The Committee are asked to recommend to full Council that the Council delegate the Taxi and Private Hire enforcement functions under the legislation set out in Appendix A to the Surrey local licensing authorities (as set out in Appendix A), in addition to retaining those functions within the Borough and to similarly receive the delegated Taxi and Private Hire enforcement functions (as set out in Appendix A) of those local authorities. 3.10 The Council’s Constitution provides the Head of Environmental & Regulatory Services with the following delegated power:- at I.3 of the Scheme of Delegation “To make all decisions, take all actions and exercise all powers in respect of the Council’s licensing functions in accordance with any one of the following legislation [ …] relating to the Council’s licensing functions: viii. the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 […] and xii. Town Police Clauses Act 1847 This report proposes the extension of this authorising power to include the officers of the participating Surrey authorities. 3.11 The Head of Environmental & Regulatory Services will nominate the Environmental and Licensing Enforcement Manager to exercise the authorising powers on his behalf. All officers of the Council (from whichever team) who are duly authorised to carry out enforcement tasks will, of course, be suitably trained and experienced in this type of work.

4. Recommendation
4.1 The Committee are asked to recommend to Full Council that: (a) the Council delegate the Taxi and Private Hire enforcement functions under the legislation set out in Appendix A to the Surrey local licensing authorities (also set out in Appendix A), in addition to retaining those functions within the Borough and to similarly receive the delegated Taxi and Private Hire enforcement functions (as set out in Appendix A) of those local authorities; and, (b) the responsibility for relevant Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing legislation in accordance with 2.1 of the Council’s Constitution which confirms an existing delegated power to the Head of Environmental & Regulatory Services at Part I.3 of the Council’s Scheme of Delegation (authorisation to enforce all relevant Hackney Carriage and Private Hire licensing legislation) be extended to include the authorisation of officers of other Surrey authorities participating in a Joint Warranting Scheme.

5. Reason for the recommendation
5.1 For the enhancement of public safety.

6. Relationship to the Corporate Strategy and Service Plan
Taxis play an important part in the overall public transport network in the Borough and contribute to the priorities relating to the Environment and Leisure and Lives.

Implications of decision
7 Resource (Finance, procurement, staffing, IT) The implications will be managed through the existing licensing budgets.
8. Risk management The Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Policy is in place to ensure public safety when using these services and to ensure the appropriate balances and mitigations are in place to minimise risk to public safety whilst enabling businesses to trade effectively, efficiently and legally.
9. Legal Under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972, Local Authorities may make arrangements for other local authorities to discharge its functions. Having done so, the Council may however continue to discharge and control those functions. If the Council arranges for the other authorities within the flexible warranting scheme to carry out its Licensing functions, it may continue to exercise most of those functions itself. In practice, it is envisaged that the power given to Officers from the other authorities within the scheme would only be exercised as and when required, when those officers are dealing with licensed vehicles from outside their current jurisdiction within their district. If the Local Authorities are to participate in the scheme it is necessary to ensure that all officers are properly appointed to carry out the enforcement functions concerned so as to avoid potential legal challenge. Changes to licencing conditions of drivers, vehicles and operators may need to be altered to reflect the above.
10. Equality, diversity and inclusion There are no direct equality, diversity or inclusion implications in this report. Equality impact assessments are carried out when necessary across the Council to ensure service delivery meets the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010. No equality impact assessment has been conducted in connection with the preparation of this report but an equality impact assessment would be conducted as part of the consultation process, once the basis for any consultation is known.
11. Climate emergency declaration None

12. Consultation and engagement
12.1 Consultation has taken place with the other 11 Surrey Licensing Authorities who are supportive of this initiative and who themselves are seeking or have sought the necessary delegations. The proposal was considered and supported by Management Board on 17 December 2019

13. Other options considered
13.1 The alternative is to not approve the proposal for joint warranting which wilL result in a lower standard of enforcement and of standards.

14. Governance journey
Consideration by Licensing and Regulatory Committee on 13 January with recommendation of the Committee to Council on 18 February 2020 Attachments:

Appendix A: Functions to be delegated to the Surrey Local Licensing Authorities

Background Papers

There are no background papers, as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972).

CONTACT OFFICER:

Name:	Paul Hughes

Position:	Licensing & Environmental Enforcement Manager

Telephone:	0148 3523189

Email:	paul.hughes@waverley.gov.uk