Taxis and private hire vehicles in exceptional condition
Dear Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council,
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has set an age limit of four years for vehicles presented for licensing for the first time to be used for taxi/private hire purposes and an upper limit of eight years after which a vehicle will not be re-licensed. Having read the current taxi licensing policy, I was unable to see any reference to vehicles in exceptional condition. Case law dictates that it is necessary to have such a condition because it is illegal for a Local Authority to have a blanket policy for all vehicles that is inflexible. (See Sharpe v Nottingham City Council, February 1981).
Does Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council have a policy or guidelines for vehicles in exceptional condition presented for licensing for the first time which do not meet the age limit requirement of four years?
Does Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council have a policy or guidelines for currently licensed vehicles in exceptional condition presented for licensing after exceeding the upper age limit of eight years?
If there is no policy or guidelines for vehicles in exceptional condition, what is the reason?
How is an application for a vehicle license for a vehicle which falls outside of the prescribed age limits handled at present?
Do council officers have delegated powers to refuse to grant or renew applications for driver, vehicle or operator licenses which do not comply with the standard conditions or convictions policy or are such cases decided by the responsible committee only?
Which committee is overall responsible for taxi and private hire licensing in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield?
Yours faithfully,
Peter Mead
Dear Peter Mead,
Thank you for your request for information received on Wednesday 4^th May
2022. This has been logged under FO-8433.
The Council’s policy is to release information unless an exemption can be
reasonably applied. The Council will respond within 20 working days by
either releasing the information or letting you know why it cannot release
the information. If for any reason it is not possible to respond within
the 20 days, we will let you know as soon as possible with the date by
which we anticipate we are able to respond.
For your information, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004 define a number of exemptions,
which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There
will be an assessment of your request and if any of the exemption
categories apply then the information may not be released. You will be
informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal against the
refusal to disclose the information.
If the information you request concerns a third party then they may be
consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the
information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.
If you have any queries or concerns then please contact the Freedom of
Information Team at [1][Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council request email].
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: [2]https://ico.org.uk/
Kind Regards,
Kyle Houston
Information Governance
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
Email: [3][Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council request email]
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
You can report missed bins, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping, litter,
graffiti and flyposting as well as tell us about problems with litter and
dog bins Online. The information in this email is intended for the named
recipients only. It may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from
disclosure, the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be
guaranteed. This email and any attachments may contain confidential
information and intellectual property (including copyright material). It
is only for the use of the addressee(s) in accordance with any
instructions contained within it. Please treat any personal and
sensitivity data that may be contained within this email in accordance
with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and
the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Such data should only be processed and
retained where there is a legitimate need to do so. Should you have a
legitimate need to share this information please make the recipient aware
of their responsibilities for handling this data in accordance with the
GDPR and DPA. If you are not the addressee, you are prohibited from
copying, forwarding, disclosing, saving or otherwise using it in any way.
If you receive this email in error, please immediately advise the sender
and delete it. Our IT supplier Sopra Steria may monitor the content of
emails within Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's network to ensure
compliance with the Council's policies and procedures. Emails are
susceptible to alteration and their integrity (including origin) cannot be
assured. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and Sopra Steria shall not be
liable for any modification to a message, or for messages falsely sent.
The full Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council email disclaimer can be viewed at
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is committed to protecting your privacy
when you use our services. The Privacy Notice below explains how we use
information about you and how we protect your privacy.
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/privacy-notice
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council request email]
2. https://ico.org.uk/
3. mailto:[Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council request email]
Good afternoon,
Freedom of Information Request (ref: 8433)
I am now writing in response to your request for information to Welwyn
Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC) dated 4 May 2022.
Please see our answers to your queries below in red in the document
attached.
I hope this response is helpful, and satisfies your request, but if you
have any queries or concerns then please contact us at
[1][Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council request email]
I have attached a copy of the Freedom of Information appeal procedure.
Further information is also available from the Information Commissioner
at:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
Kind Regards,
Alison Marston
Governance Services Manager
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
Email: [3][email address]
Working better, together
[4]www.welhat.gov.uk
[5]@WelHatCouncil
[6]Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
You can report missed bins, abandoned vehicles, fly-tipping, litter,
graffiti and flyposting as well as tell us about problems with litter and
dog bins Online. The information in this email is intended for the named
recipients only. It may be subject to public disclosure under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000. Unless the information is legally exempt from
disclosure, the confidentiality of this email and your reply cannot be
guaranteed. This email and any attachments may contain confidential
information and intellectual property (including copyright material). It
is only for the use of the addressee(s) in accordance with any
instructions contained within it. Please treat any personal and
sensitivity data that may be contained within this email in accordance
with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and
the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Such data should only be processed and
retained where there is a legitimate need to do so. Should you have a
legitimate need to share this information please make the recipient aware
of their responsibilities for handling this data in accordance with the
GDPR and DPA. If you are not the addressee, you are prohibited from
copying, forwarding, disclosing, saving or otherwise using it in any way.
If you receive this email in error, please immediately advise the sender
and delete it. Our IT supplier Sopra Steria may monitor the content of
emails within Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's network to ensure
compliance with the Council's policies and procedures. Emails are
susceptible to alteration and their integrity (including origin) cannot be
assured. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council and Sopra Steria shall not be
liable for any modification to a message, or for messages falsely sent.
The full Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council email disclaimer can be viewed at
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/emaildisclaimer.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is committed to protecting your privacy
when you use our services. The Privacy Notice below explains how we use
information about you and how we protect your privacy.
http://www.welhat.gov.uk/privacy-notice
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council request email]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.welhat.gov.uk/
5. http://www.twitter.com/WelHatCouncil
6. http://www.facebook.com/welwynhatfield/
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now