Dear Sir or Madam,

Please tell me:

1. what arrangements you make to ensure that taxi drivers licensed
by the council do not refuse to carry a passenger who has a
registered assistance dog (you will I hope be aware that this
extends substantially beyond Guide Dogs).

2. How many instances you are aware of where there have been such
refusals, and the reasons why

3. How many complaints you have had about this and how you have
dealt with them.

4. How your council meets its obligations in this respect under
Disability Discrimination legislation, to ensure that people with a
registered assistance dog are not refused by taxi drivers.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Heaton

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is an automated response from [Dover District Council request email] to
thank you for your e-mail and to confirm that it has successfully reached
us.

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[1](http://www.dover.gov.uk) enables many forms to be completed and
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Thank You.

Dover District Council.
Whitecliffs Business Park,
Whitfield, Dover, Kent.
CT16 3PJ
Tel: 01304 821199

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Message from Mandy Weir, Performance Officer

Dear Mr Heaton

Thank you for your request for information about taxis and registered
assistance dogs. Your request was received on 24 June 2009 and I am
dealing with it under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, I will
let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me.

Yours sincerely

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|| |Mandy Weir |
|| |Performance Officer |
|| |Dover District Council |
|| |Council Offices, White Cliffs Business Park, Whitfield, Dover CT16 |
|| |3PJ |
|| | |
|| |Tel: 01304 872318 |
|| |Fax: 01304 872300 |
|| |Email: [1][email address] |
|| |Web: [2]www.dover.gov.uk |
|| | |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|P Please consider the environment before printing this email |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Dear Mr Heaton

I am writing in respect of your enquiry for information held by this
Authority received on 24 June 2009 and to confirm that we have completed
the search for the information that you requested.

1. The carriage of assistance dogs is included in the Council's policy
for Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Drivers and Operators. Assistance
dogs must be carried unless the driver has a medical certificate as to
why he/she should not do so. Such reasons would be allergies, phobia
etc. No driver has such a medical exemption in this district

2. There has only been one such incident in the past 4 years. No
reason was given by the driver but it is believed that they were
concerned regarding soiling of the vehicle. Notwithstanding the
operator did provide another vehicle to convey the passenger both driver
and operator were given written warnings as to their future actions.

3. See 2 above

4. This authority has embarked on training as part of the NVQ Level 2
in Passenger Transport. This includes a module on DDA and customer care
not only for those with assistance dogs but also over the wider range of
mobility challenged clients.

The information supplied to you continues to be protected by the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. You are free to use it for your
own purposes, including any non-commercial research you are doing and
for the purposes of news reporting. Any other reuse, for example
commercial publication, would require the permission of the copyright
holder. Most documents supplied by Dover District Council will have
been produced by government officials and will be Crown Copyright. You
can find details on the arrangements for re-using Crown Copyright on
HMSOnline at:
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/copyright/licence...

Information you receive which is not subject to Crown Copyright
continues to be protected by the copyright of the person, or
organisation, from which the information originated. You must ensure
that you gain their permission before reproducing any third party (non
Crown Copyright) information.

If you have any queries about this email, please contact me

I hope you find the information enclosed useful but if, for whatever
reason, you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation
to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our
decision, you are entitled to pursue any dissatisfaction through the
Council's Complaints Procedure.

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints
procedure provided by the Council. The Information Commissioner can be
contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely

Mandy Weir
Performance Officer
Dover District Council
Council Offices, White Cliffs Business Park, Whitfield, Dover CT16 3PJ

Tel: 01304 872318
Fax: 01304 872300
Email: [email address]
Web: www.dover.gov.uk

P Please consider the Environment before printing this email

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Dear Mandy Weir,

thank you for your response

Yours sincerely,

peter heaton