Private hire and hackney carriage driver and vehicle licensing

Closed 16 Aug 2015

Opened 1 Jul 2015

Contact

Licensing team

licensing@leicester.gov.uk

Feedback updated 8 Jan 2016

We asked

We asked our licensed private hire and hackney carriage drivers and our licensed private hire operators for their views on four matters:

  • The vehicle age policy that was introduced in 2013.
  • Child sexual exploitation awareness courses for drivers.
  • A new penalty points system for licensed drivers.
  • Allowing driver licences to be isued for one, two or three years instead of just one year.

You said

We received 318 responses to this consultation. Although there were a number of different views the majority of responses said that:

  • The vehicle age limit should be increased to 13 years,
  • Child sexual exploitation awareness training should be provided for all taxi drivers.
  • The penalty points system was not supported.
  • Longer licences for taxi drivers were supported.

 

 

 

We did

The responses were taken into account during the decision making process, along with the impact of the proposals on public safety. It was decided that:

  • There would be no change to the vehicle age limit.
  • Child sexual exploitation awareness training would be introduced.
  • The penalty points system would be introduced.
  • Longer licences for taxi drivers would be introduced subject to guidelines on the maximum duration of individual licences, which would be applied on a case by case basis.

Results updated 8 Jan 2016

The comments we received during the consultation were taken into account during the decision making process. The consultation covered four different items, and the decisions were as follows:

  • There will be no change to the existing vehicle age policy.
  • All licensed taxi drivers will be required to complete a course to raise their awareness of child sexual exploitation. Existing drivers will have to take the course within three months of the date their licence is renewed, and new drivers will have to take the course within three months of their licence being granted.
  • A penalty points scheme will be introduced.
  • Drivers may be licensed for one, two or three years depending on the circumstances in each case. We will take account of the driver's criminal reocrd and medical history, the number of points on their DVLA licence and the number of points issued to them under the Counci's penalty points scheme.

Overview

We are considering changes to taxi driver licensing, as follows:

  • We currently license all taxi drivers for one year but propose to allow licences to be issued for one, two or three years.
  • We propose to require new and existing drivers to attend child sexual exploitation awareness briefings
  • We propose to introduce a driver penalty points scheme.

We are also reviewing our vehicle age policy, which was implemented two years ago.

Why your views matter

We would like to know what existing taxi drivers think of our proposed changes to the driver licensing regime.

We would also like to hear from the proprietors of licensed vehicles on our vehicle age policy, which has been in place for two years. We need to review the policy to see if it is working as intended or if any changes are necessary.

These opinions will help us the finalise our policy and procedures, which will be given final approval by the City Mayor and the Executive.

What happens next

The responses will be reviewed by officers and reported to the City Mayor and the Executive, who will decide whether any changes are necessary to our driver licensing policy and procedures and our vehicle age policy.

Areas

  • Abbey
  • Aylestone
  • Beaumont Leys
  • Belgrave
  • Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields
  • Castle
  • Evington
  • Eyres Monsell
  • Fosse
  • Humberstone & Hamilton
  • Knighton
  • Rushey Mead
  • Saffron
  • Spinney Hills
  • Stoneygate
  • Thurncourt
  • Westcotes

Audiences

  • Working-age people
  • Full-time and part-time workers

Interests

  • Neighbourhood services