Enforcing laws relating to taxis and private hire vehicles
This page provides information about the council's enforcement role concering laws relating to taxis and private hire vehicles.
The Council has a number of means at its disposal to ensure licence holders meet their responsibilities, including education, advice, warning letters, revocation or suspension of licences, and formal cautions or prosecutions.
We will generally reserve prosecutions for the more serious offences, which represent a blatant disregard by licence holders of their responsibilities of the requirements of the legislation.
Where licences are refused, withdrawn or suspended applicants will be advised in writing of the reason for the action and advised of the appeal procedures.
Enforcing licensing law
Our primary concern is to protect the safety and welfare of members of the public and animals.
Officers will seek to encourage licence holders to conduct their activity in a safe manner, maintain good standards and to comply with the law.
Officers have to exercise considerable discretion when approaching individual licence holders.
Licensees are in our experience anxious to comply with the law and for such cases the officer's role will be to provide guidance and advice.
However, in carrying out their functions officers are authorised with a wide range of powers; and may for example require entry at all reasonable times or require the production of certain documents.
If Officers find evidence the law is being broken they can respond in various ways.
They may instruct or warn by letter, revoke or suspend a licence and where the circumstances warrant it they will formally caution or prosecute without prior warnings and without recourse to alternative sanctions.
Prosecutions to ensure prevention
In keeping with its preventive role a local authority may use prosecution as a way to draw attention to the need for compliance and the maintenance of good standards.
Officers investigating offences consider the potential harm as well as any harm actually caused. Thus a local authority may seek prosecution if a breach has significant potential for harm regardless of whether it caused an injury.
In deciding whether to prosecute, a local authority will also consider:-
- the gravity of the offence
- the general record, approach and explanation of the offender
- whether it is desirable to be seen to produce some public effect, including the need to ensure remedial action and, through the punishment of offenders, to deter others from simple failures to comply with the law
- whether the evidence available provides a realistic prospect of conviction. (In this respect a local authority is guided by the Code for Crown Prosecutors published by the Crown Prosecution Service).
Prosecution of individuals
Our policy is to identify and prosecute individuals if a conviction is warranted and can be reasonably secured, but a licensing offence can be the result of the negligent or ignorant acts of more than one person.
This means it is difficult to prove a link between some incidents and individual directors, managers and employees. However a local authority may still have the option of taking a case against a company instead of a named individual, and will seek to do so where the circumstances justify it.
Penalties and appeals
Transgressions of statute law or conditions need to be dealt with commensurate to the offence and dependant upon the nature of the offence.
The relevant statute will be dealt with by duly appointed or delegated Council officials, the Licensing Sub-Committee or Environmental Services Committee, magistrates' court or in certain cases crown courts.
Persons convicted of offences are subject to penalties as laid down by statute.
Licensees have a right of appeal against decisions made by Council officers or Committees and will be advised in writing of the appeal procedure at the time of refusal, suspension or withdrawal.
In accordance with the details of the relevant legislation, members of the public, police and fire brigade are consulted prior to the issue of licences and have an opportunity to object to the issuing of public entertainment licences.
Contact
- Email: Licensing@reigate-banstead.gov.uk
- Telephone: 01737 276672
- Write to:
Licensing Officer
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Town Hall
Castlefield Road
Reigate
RH2 0SH.
Last updated : 04/08/2011
