Council wins more crown court taxi appeals

Shropshire Council has won three court cases in three weeks which uphold decisions taken in the interests of public safety to refuse to grant taxi licences. 

Judges sitting with lay members at Shrewsbury Crown Court have backed the council’s decisions to refuse to grant hackney carriage vehicle licences to Mr Saeed Mohammed, Mr Tariq Mahmood and Mr Pavinder Banggar. 

The council refused the licences on the grounds they could not be satisfied that the vehicles would be plying for hire to a material extent within the Bridgnorth zone for which they had each applied. 

The council has a duty to ensure that it licenses vehicles in line with High Court guidance, which includes the requirement that hackney carriages mostly operate in the council area, in the interests of public safety.  If drivers from outside the county are not operating as agreed, this undermines these safeguards and means they cannot be effectively monitored to ensure the vehicles are safe. 

• Mohammed, from Birmingham, lost his crown court appeal against the decision on 20 July 2012 and was ordered to pay costs to the council of £1,000.
• Mahmood, from Birmingham, lost his appeal on 27 July and was ordered to pay costs to the council of £2,000.
• Banggar, from Oldbury, lost his appeal on 6 August and was ordered to pay costs to the council of £1,000.

The judges and lay members found in favour of the council, taking into account all the information that was considered by the council in making the decisions as well as the council’s out-of-area taxi policy. 

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet agreed the ‘Intended Use Policy for the Licensing of Hackney Carriages’ policy in February 2012.  This came after a significant increase in demand for taxi licences in Shropshire, with the majority of hackney carriage applicants based outside the county.  The policy sets out a clear position and procedure under which decisions will be made on hackney carriage applications where the intention is not to work mostly within the Shropshire Council area.  

An enforcement campaign is also being carried out to ensure that, where licences are granted, the drivers are working mostly within the relevant Shropshire zone.  The enforcement work includes checking records to confirm where the vehicles are working, out of hours monitoring exercises which can ultimately lead to licences being revoked if necessary, and sharing information with other councils.  

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for licensing, said:

“The courts have, to date, upheld all such council decisions brought before them to refuse to grant taxi licences because the vehicles would not be used mostly in the county. 

“In each and every case, this is a great result, and shows that our policy and decision- making is robust and is taken in the best interests of the public.  These cases recognise the importance of thoroughly processing and issue licences, which includes consideration of the licensing of out-of-area hackney carriage vehicles, to protect the safety of passengers. 

“Shropshire is sending a clear message to applicants or drivers who have been issued with licences to operate in the county, that if they have no intention to work here or they are unable to provide evidence that they are working predominantly in Shropshire, this practice in unacceptable and we will challenge it.  We are pleased that the courts continue to support our approach.” 

Hackney carriage vehicles do not have to be pre-booked and can be hailed on the street. Private hire vehicles must be pre-booked, and customers should be quoted the exact fare when the booking is made.