Vehicles In Exceptional Condition Taxi & Private Hire Licensing
Dear Luton Borough Council
Luton Borough Council has set an age limit of five years for vehicles presented for licensing for the first time to be used for taxi/private hire purposes. 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 Luton 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 five years?
If there is no policy or guidelines for vehicles in exceptional condition, what is the reason?
In Luton Borough Councils Constitution, Part 7, Luton Borough Council has delegated powers to officers to grant, renew, revoke or suspend drivers, vehicle and operator licenses subject to compliance with the councils standard conditions and convictions policy. Delegated authority to refuse licenses is clearly defined in the constitution for other licensing matters such as scrap metal and Licensing Act 2003 so I assume that the power to refuse a license has not been delegated to officers but just to clarify, please answer the following:
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 was this power retained by the relevant committee?
If the power to refuse to grant or renew a license was retained by a committee and is not delegated, please advise which committee.
What happens to applications which do not meet the standard conditions or convictions policy and are these applications determined by officers or referred to the committee responsible for taxi licensing for determination?
Yours faithfully,
Peter Mead
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Dear Sir
Re: Your Freedom of Information Request - Acknowledgement LU1951
Thank you for your request for information dated 20/02/2022. We are treating this as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
The legislation allows us 20 working days to respond to your request. We aim to provide you with the information by 20/03/2022. If we require any clarification from you in relation to your request, we will contact you further and the 20 working day period will start once we have that information.
Should you have any queries or concerns about how your request is being handled, please do not hesitate to contact us further, quoting the above reference, by emailing us at [Luton Borough Council request email]
Yours sincerely,
Glynis Gray
Complaints and Information Compliance Administrator
Business Intelligence
Email : [email address]
Dear Mr Mead
Please see the attached response to your FOI enquiry
Kind Regards
Tony Ireland, MA, PG Dip, MIOL
Strategic Regulatory Manager
Ops Support and Compliance/ Neighbourhood Delivery &
Chair of Mortality Pathway Coordination Group
Bedfordshire Local Resilience Forum
Public Protection
Luton Council
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