Dear Sir 

Thank you for your information request received on 01 May 2021.

We can confirm receipt of your request for information and will handle it
under the most appropriate legislation.  

Your case reference number is FOI 24593

You can expect to receive a response by 01 June 2021.

The Council will be in touch if we need any further information.

Yours faithfully 

Information Management Team

Buckinghamshire Council

[1][Buckinghamshire Council request email]

[2]A Little Longer

DISCLAIMER FOR BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COUNCIL

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are not necessarily those of Buckinghamshire Council unless explicitly
stated.

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Buckinghamshire Council may monitor the contents of emails sent and
received via its network for the purposes of ensuring compliance with
relevant legislation and the Council’s policies and procedures. All such
monitoring will take place in accordance with relevant legislation
including privacy and data protection legislation. For details of how
Buckinghamshire Council uses personal information please see the Council’s
website.

Buckinghamshire Council has scanned this email and attachments for viruses
but does not accept any responsibilities for viruses once this email has
been transmitted. You should therefore carry out your own anti-virus
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References

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1. mailto:[Buckinghamshire Council request email]

Dear Sid

FOI 24593

Thank you for contacting Buckinghamshire Council and your request for
information below regarding Aylesbury Vale taxi licenses and Inspectors.

Do you license the drivers and their vehicles that are plated by Aylesbury
vale district council & Buckingham Council? If so, does your taxi license
inspector travel to Bedford to check the 50/60 or so that are working here
covertly for Bedford Borough operators?

This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find the relevant details below and attached.

Buckinghamshire Council (formerly Aylesbury Vale District Council) issue
licences for vehicles, drivers and operators (please refer to the attached
information sheet).

For private hire vehicles, journeys must be booked in advance through a
licensed operator. The driver, vehicle and operator must all be licensed
by the same authority. For Hackney Carriages the vehicle and driver must
both be licensed by the same authority.

Journeys do not need to be booked in advance if you are picked up in the
zone where the hackney carriage is licensed.

Further to this there was a change in legislation which brought into
effect the Deregulation Act 2015 (to enable operators to work more
efficiently by sub-contracting work to another operator in a nearby
licencing area. This allows for another company's driver to be used when
they are closer to a further afield booking request.)

This in effect means an operator licensed by our authority may pass a
booking to another licensed operator in a differing licensing authority.
They can then fulfil the booking and vice versa. This may explain to you
why you are seeing numerous vehicles licensed by our authority operating
in your area.
([1]https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/201...)

In terms of enforcement of our vehicles, criminal enforcement is the
responsibility of the local area in whose area the offence was committed
rather than the authority that granted the licences, these may be the
same, but the vehicle may have travelled over a local authority border.

In relation to taxi inspections we do have our own enforcement officers
who work within our own authority area (zones/district) to ensure
compliance is being met by our drivers, operators and the vehicles in
accordance with the relevant legislation and our own Taxi Licensing
Council Policy. Our officers have been given said enforcement powers by
way of delegated authority given from the council committee and sub
licensing committee and as such accordingly our council has complied with
the adoption of these powers under the Local Government (Miscellaneous)
Act 1976 (45Application of Part II).
([2]https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/197...)

If we receive complaints from members of the public or other parties in
connection with any of our vehicles or drivers in relation to conduct or
standards, we would investigate this and call a driver in for interview or
a vehicle in for inspections.

Following this appropriate action would then be taken. We do have
agreements in place with our neighbouring authorities and Thames Valley
Police to allow specific enforcement activities to be conduct by their
officers out with our own local authority area and in their own areas in
order to support our enforcement team to ensure high standards are being
met.

This is done by way of a formal agreement – M.O.U (memorandum of
understanding) however this does not currently incorporate an agreement
with authorities in the Bedford area.

If you have any queries about this response, please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number provided in the subject line of
this email in any future communications.

If 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 can contact us at [3][Buckinghamshire Council request email] or by
writing to us at

Information Governance
Buckinghamshire Council
The Gateway
Gatehouse Road
Aylesbury
HP19 8FF

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
internal review procedure provided by Buckinghamshire Council.

You can contact the ICO via their website
[4]https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or by writing to them at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Alternatively, you can phone them on 0303 123 1113.

With kind regards

The Freedom of Information Team  

Information and Complaints

Deputy Chief Executive Directorate

Buckinghamshire Council
New County Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury, Bucks, HP20 1UA
[5][Buckinghamshire Council request email]

[6]A Little Longer

DISCLAIMER FOR BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COUNCIL

Any views expressed in this email are those of the individual sender and
are not necessarily those of Buckinghamshire Council unless explicitly
stated.

This email and any attachments may contain confidential or privileged
information and is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
to whom it is addressed. Any confidential, sensitive or protectively
marked material must be handled accordingly.

If you are not the intended recipient you must not disclose, distribute,
copy, print or rely on any of the information contained in the email or
attachments, and all copies must be deleted immediately. If you do receive
this email in error please notify the sender immediately and note that
confidentiality or privilege is not waived or lost. 

Buckinghamshire Council may monitor the contents of emails sent and
received via its network for the purposes of ensuring compliance with
relevant legislation and the Council’s policies and procedures. All such
monitoring will take place in accordance with relevant legislation
including privacy and data protection legislation. For details of how
Buckinghamshire Council uses personal information please see the Council’s
website.

Buckinghamshire Council has scanned this email and attachments for viruses
but does not accept any responsibilities for viruses once this email has
been transmitted. You should therefore carry out your own anti-virus
checks before opening any documents.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/201...
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/197...
3. mailto:[Buckinghamshire Council request email]
4. https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
5. mailto:[Buckinghamshire Council request email]