Lists of Accessible Taxis under S167 Equality Act 2010

The request was successful.

Dear Monmouthshire Council,

1) Please advise if you have produced, or currently intend to produce, a list of wheelchair accessible:
a) taxis
and
b) private hire vehicles
under the powers set out in S167 of the Equality Act 2010.

2) Please identify how many a) taxi and b) PHV drivers have applied for medical / physical impairment exemption under S166 of the Equality Act 2010 since S166 was commenced. If you've created a list under S167, please identify how many of the exemptions were in place before S167 and how many have been put in since.

3) Please state whether you voluntarily compiled a list of accessible taxis and private hire vehicles following the Department for Transport's guidance of 15th September 2010, which stated, in relation to section 167, “although the list of designated vehicles will have no actual effect in law until the duties are commenced, we would urge licensing authorities to start maintaining a list as soon as possible for the purpose of liaising with the trade and issuing exemption certificates”. If you did produce such a voluntary list, please indicate when you did so, and provide the current list.

If you have produced a list of wheelchair accessible taxis and/or private hire vehicles under S167, or are going to, please tell me the following.

4) The date the list was instated or by which you intend to do so.

5) The accessibility requirements of a taxi for it to appear on the list.

6) How you intend to enforce drivers' compliance with S165.

7) The list.

Yours faithfully,

Doug Paulley

Dear Monmouthshire Council,

Please can I check that you have received and are processing my FOI request?

I'm a bit concerned as it's been 3 weeks since I sent it and you haven't acknowledged you've received it. WhatDoTheyKnow's mail server logs show that the email containing my request was successfully received by your email server, but that doesn't mean a human has actually read it.

Please put my mind at rest?

thank you

Yours faithfully,

Doug Paulley

Trigg, Mike J., Monmouthshire County Council

Dear Mr Paulley,

Yes, I can confirm that your request is being processed and you will hear from us shortly.

Regards,

Mike Trigg
Data Protection and FoI Officer

Telephone: 01633 644744
[email address]

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Trigg, Mike J., Monmouthshire County Council

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Paulley,

 

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 

 

The information you requested is as follows:

 

1) Please advise if you have produced, or currently intend to produce, a
list of wheelchair accessible:

a) taxis

and

b) private hire vehicles

under the powers set out in S167 of the Equality Act 2010.

 

                Yes, a list is available to the public on request.

 

2) Please identify how many a) taxi and b) PHV drivers have applied for
medical / physical impairment exemption under S166 of the Equality Act
2010 since S166 was commenced. If you've created a list under S167, please
identify how many of the exemptions were in place before S167 and how many
have been put in since.

 

                None

 

3) Please state whether you voluntarily compiled a list of accessible
taxis and private hire vehicles following the Department for Transport's
guidance of 15th September 2010, which stated, in relation to section 167,
“although the list of designated vehicles will have no actual effect in
law until the duties are commenced, we would urge licensing authorities to
start maintaining a list as soon as possible for the purpose of liaising
with the trade and issuing exemption certificates”. If you did produce
such a voluntary list, please indicate when you did so, and provide the
current list.

 

If you have produced a list of wheelchair accessible taxis and/or private
hire vehicles under S167, or are going to, please tell me the following.

 

Monmouthshire County Council adopted a revised Taxi and Private Hire
Policy and Conditions 2016 which was adopted 1st April 2016 and the
sections relating to this matter are below.  However, we did have a list
of wheelchair accessible vehicles prior to this.  Licensing had a list
available with effect from January 2005 when it change to a new computer
software package.

 

Page 38  Disability Awareness

 

17.The council requires all operators and drivers to be compliant with the
provisions of the Equalities Act 2010, which has specific sections on
private hire and hackney carriages not discriminating on the grounds of
disability, including the requirement to carry assistance dogs of disabled
people.

18. The council supports any form of transport that provides a service for
disabled persons and encourages operators and proprietors to provide a 24
hour service for disabled persons.  The council strongly encourages the
provision of wheelchair accessible vehicles in private hire and the
hackney carriage trade.

19. Drivers and operators are expected to have knowledge in safe methods
of conveying disabled persons, wheelchair bound or not.

20. The council encourages all drivers to attend training on dealing with
disabled people; this does not only include people in wheelchairs but
knowledge of the needs of people with a wide range of disabilities.

21. Disabilities include; limited or restricted movement, sight or hearing
disabilities, learning difficulties and mental impairment.  This list is
not exhaustive; the provisions of the current Equalities Act will be taken
into account when determining if a person is classed as disabled.

22. Drivers of wheelchair accessible vehicles are advised to attend a
recognised training course to ensure that they comply with health and
safety requirements for handling and securing wheelchairs.

23. The council may review the licences of any driver/operator who is
found to be deficient in disability awareness following a complaint.  The
lack of training/knowledge on the part of the driver/operator will not be
accepted as a defence to the allegation.

 

Page 44 Equality Act 2010

 

42. All drivers will be required to make themselves fully aware of their
responsibilities and duties required of them under the Equalities Act to
promote equality and opportunity for disabled people.

 

 

4)  The date the list was instated or by which you intend to do so.

 

                See 3 above

 

5) The accessibility requirements of a taxi for it to appear on the list.

 

The vehicle must enable a wheelchair user access into and egress from the
vehicle without being removed from the wheelchair.

 

6) How you intend to enforce drivers' compliance with S165.

 

Enforcement will either be carried out by spot checks or as a result of
information received.  Action will be dependent on individual
circumstances.  Initial warning may be given.  Alternatively, the matter
may either be deferred to the Licensing and Regulatory Committee to review
the licence or legal proceedings may be instigated. The Secretary of State
encourages that sanctions through the courts is used as a last resort by
licensing authorities.

 

7) The list.

 

                Please see attached

 

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
for information, you can request a review by e-mail to
[1]mailto:[email address] or by writing to:

 

Paul Matthews

Chief Executive

PO Box 106

Caldicot

NP26 9AN 

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

2nd Floor

Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

 

Telephone: 02920 678400

Email: [2][email address]

Fax: 02920 678399

There is no charge for making an appeal. 

 

Regards,

 

Mike Trigg,
Data Protection and FoI Officer

 

Telephone:         01633 644744

[3][email address]

 

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Dear Monmouthshire Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Monmouthshire Council's handling of my FOI request 'Lists of Accessible Taxis under S167 Equality Act 2010'.

In response to my request:

"a list of wheelchair accessible:
a) taxis
and
b) private hire vehicles
under the powers set out in S167 of the Equality Act 2010."

You stated:

"Yes, a list is available to the public on request."

That doesn't provide the information I requested.

The DFT's statutory guidance has this to say about S167:

"Whilst LAs are under no specific legal obligation to maintain a list under section 167, the Government recommends strongly that they do so. Without such a list the requirements of section 165 of the Act do not apply, and drivers may continue to refuse the carriage of wheelchair users, fail to provide them with assistance, or to charge them extra."

"Before drivers can be subject to the duties under section 165 of the Act, the LA must first publish their list of designated vehicles, and clearly mark it as ‘designated for the purposes of section 165 of the Act’. LAs should ensure that their designated lists are made easily available to passengers, and that vehicle owners and drivers are made aware. Lists should set out the details of the make and model of the vehicle, together with specifying whether the vehicle is a taxi or private hire vehicle, and stating the name of operator."

Do you have a list clearly marked "designated for the purposes of section 165 of the Act"? Is it published, does it solely list accessible vehicles, does it include the make, model, license type (taxi or PHV) and the name of the operator? If you do then you have a S167 list. If you don't then you don't have such a list. The list you supplied in response to Q7 does not appear to comply with the obligations set out in the guidance.

Your response to Q4 doesn't make sense. Q3 was about a voluntary list; Q4-6 are about the S167 list. A S167 list is different from a voluntary list. Any list held before 6th April 2017 is a voluntary list, which may or may not have been converted into a S167 list after 6th April 2017, depending on whether it meets the above requirements (being clearly marked 'designated for the purposes of section 165 of the Act' and so on.)

If you have a S167 list then please respond to my question as to when you implemented it with the date that it was instated. If you don't have a S167 list, please indicate whether you intend to have one and if so by when.

In response to my question "6) How you intend to enforce drivers' compliance with S165" you stated:

"Enforcement will either be carried out by spot checks or as a result of information received. Action will be dependent on individual circumstances. Initial warning may be given. Alternatively, the matter may either be deferred to the Licensing and Regulatory Committee to review the licence or legal proceedings may be instigated. The Secretary of State encourages that sanctions through the courts is used as a last resort by licensing authorities."

Of course you won't be able to enforce compliance with S165 unless and until you publish a valid S167 list.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

Yours faithfully,

Doug Paulley

Trigg, Mike J., Monmouthshire County Council

3 Attachments

Dear Mr Paulley,

 

Our Chief Executive, Paul Matthews, has asked me to pass this on to you.

 

Regards,

 

Mike Trigg

Data Protection and FoI Officer

 

Telephone:        01633 644744

[email address]

 

 

 

Dear Mr Paulley,                                             

 

I refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and
subsequent correspondence.

 

I can see that we may have misunderstood your original request and I
apologise for that.  Consequently, I have asked that the questions be
reconsidered and a revised response appears below.

 

If you remain dissatisfied, please feel free to contact me again.

 

Here are our revised answers to your questions:

 

 

1) Please advise if you have produced, or currently intend to produce, a
list of wheelchair accessible:

a) taxis and

b) private hire vehicles

under the powers set out in S167 of the Equality Act 2010.

 

                A list which is compliant with s167 of the Act is in the
process of compilation.    

 

2) Please identify how many a) taxi and b) PHV drivers have applied for
medical / physical impairment exemption under S166 of the Equality Act
2010 since S166 was commenced. If you've created a list under S167, please
identify how many of the exemptions were in place before S167 and how many
have been put in since.

 

                None

 

3) Please state whether you voluntarily compiled a list of accessible
taxis and private hire vehicles following the Department for Transport's
guidance of 15th September 2010, which stated, in relation to section 167,
“although the list of designated vehicles will have no actual effect in
law until the duties are commenced, we would urge licensing authorities to
start maintaining a list as soon as possible for the purpose of liaising
with the trade and issuing exemption certificates”. If you did produce
such a voluntary list, please indicate when you did so, and provide the
current list.

 

                A list of accessible vehicles has been available since
January 2005, though it may not yet be compliant with s167.  The NALEO
guidance on wheelchair accessible vehicles is attached for reference.

 

Monmouthshire County Council adopted a revised Taxi and Private Hire
Policy and Conditions 2016 which was adopted 1st April 2016 and the
sections relating to this matter are below. 

 

Page 38  Disability Awareness

 

17.The council requires all operators and drivers to be compliant with the
provisions of the Equalities Act 2010, which has specific sections on
private hire and hackney carriages not discriminating on the grounds of
disability, including the requirement to carry assistance dogs of disabled
people.

18. The council supports any form of transport that provides a service for
disabled persons and encourages operators and proprietors to provide a 24
hour service for disabled persons.  The council strongly encourages the
provision of wheelchair accessible vehicles in private hire and the
hackney carriage trade.

19. Drivers and operators are expected to have knowledge in safe methods
of conveying disabled persons, wheelchair bound or not.

20. The council encourages all drivers to attend training on dealing with
disabled people; this does not only include people in wheelchairs but
knowledge of the needs of people with a wide range of disabilities.

21. Disabilities include; limited or restricted movement, sight or hearing
disabilities, learning difficulties and mental impairment.  This list is
not exhaustive; the provisions of the current Equalities Act will be taken
into account when determining if a person is classed as disabled.

22. Drivers of wheelchair accessible vehicles are advised to attend a
recognised training course to ensure that they comply with health and
safety requirements for handling and securing wheelchairs.

23. The council may review the licences of any driver/operator who is
found to be deficient in disability awareness following a complaint.  The
lack of training/knowledge on the part of the driver/operator will not be
accepted as a defence to the allegation.

 

Page 44 Equality Act 2010

 

42. All drivers will be required to make themselves fully aware of their
responsibilities and duties required of them under the Equalities Act to
promote equality and opportunity for disabled people.

 

 

If you have produced a list of wheelchair accessible taxis and/or private
hire vehicles under S167, or are going to, please tell me the following.

 

 

4)  The date the list was instated or by which you intend to do so.

 

                No fixed date has been scheduled, but we have issued a
letter to all licence holders (copy attached) and will complete and
publish the list as soon as the data verification process is complete. 

 

5) The accessibility requirements of a taxi for it to appear on the list.

 

The vehicle must enable a wheelchair user access into and egress from the
vehicle without being removed from the wheelchair.

 

6) How you intend to enforce drivers' compliance with S165.

 

Once a compliant list is in place, enforcement will either be carried out
by spot checks or as a result of information received.  Action will be
dependent on individual circumstances.  Initial warning may be given. 
Alternatively, the matter may either be deferred to the Licensing and
Regulatory Committee to review the licence or legal proceedings may be
instigated. The Secretary of State encourages that sanctions through the
courts is used as a last resort by licensing authorities.

 

7) The list.

 

                The current list is attached

 

 

 

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a
right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner’s Office

2nd Floor

Churchill House

Churchill Way

Cardiff

CF10 2HH

 

Telephone: 02920 678400

Email: [1][email address]

Fax: 02920 678399

There is no charge for making an appeal. 

 

Paul Matthews

Chief Executive

 

 

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Dear Trigg, Mike J.,

Thank you. It's great seeing your council being so proactive around this issue.

Yours sincerely,

Doug Paulley