Licensing Consultations

Hackney Carraige and Private Hire Policy Review 2019

Three Rivers District Council is the Licensing Authority for the Three Rivers District. One of the requirements of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 is that the Licensing Authority has in place a policy, which must be reviewed regularly.

This review is the appropriate time to make any changes to the Policy which are considered necessary in light of previous experiences in determining applications, conducting compliance and enforcement checks and based upon changes to legislation and guidance.

The Council is legally required to consult upon its “Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Policy” and it is to that end that we write to you now. As a statutory consultee and/or other person or body representative of the taxi licensing trade the Council would welcome your comments on its draft Policy. Any comments you make should include your name, any organisation or persons you may be responding on behalf of and your address. All comments received will be made public via Council agendas.

The Policy is available on the Council’s web site at:- 

A hard copy will be provided upon request only.

It is the Council’s view that changes where required to the Policy including;

• The inclusion of a contravention points system,
• Mandatory training for drivers
• Requirement to sign up for the DBS update service
• An increase in driver experience
• Three yearly medical certificates required
• A reduction in the maximum age of new vehicles on the fleet and an increase in compliance tests for older vehicles to raise the vehicle standards. All new vehicles will need to meet M1 and Euro 5 standards for emissions
• An inclusion of a dress code
• An update to the CCTV policy following changes to data protection and GDPR.
• The addition of NAFN (National Anti-Fraud Network). Data national base for refused and revoked drivers.
• No part warn tyres to be fitted to vehicles
• Door stickers to be attached to all Private Hire Vehicles
• Inclusion of tinted windows policy

However these changes are subject to any views expressed, and therefore we would encourage you to take time to read the Policy and forward any comments to the Licensing Team at Licensing.team@threerivers.gov.uk or, alternatively, you may wish to send written correspondence to:Three Rivers District Council

The consultation period runs for 28 days and will end on 23^rd  May 2019. At the end of the consultation period any comments received will be considered and the Policy will be amended as necessary before being approved by Full Council.

We look forward to receiving your comments.