LICENSING TEAM 
Southampton and Eastleigh Licensing Partnership		
Eastleigh Borough Council
Eastleigh House
Upper Market Street, Eastleigh
SO50 9YN			
Direct dial:	023 8254 5376	E-mail:	licensing@eastleigh.gov.uk	
Our ref:	Newsletter November 2023	Please ask for:	Mr. Andy Jeffery	

EASTLEIGH LICENSING UPDATE

Following the meeting of the Eastleigh Borough Council Administration Committee on Tuesday 21st November 2023, there are a number of changes to the Policy and Conditions as follows:
BTech qualification for new drivers.
The requirement for all new hackney carriage and private hire drivers to complete a BTech qualification in transporting passengers by taxi or private hire has now been removed with immediate effect due to lack of course providers.
We are actively looking for new training to replace this and disability awareness training is something that will be implemented in the future.

Private Hire Door Signage.
The requirement to display Private Hire Operator door signs on the front doors of all private hire vehicles has now been removed with immediate effect. The Borough Identity sign which includes the plate number is still mandatory to be displayed on the rear passenger doors to the satisfaction of the Head of Legal Services & Data Protection Officer. 
Should a driver/vehicle proprietor wish to display operator details, these are to be placed on the front doors of the vehicle to the satisfaction of the Head of Legal Services & Data Protection Officer. Magnetic signs are not to be used under any circumstances. 
When private hire operator signs are displayed, to prevent confusion, that vehicle should only carry out bookings for that same operator. A home to school contract job from another specialist operator will be permitted without changing the door signs. 
The change in door signage requirements are in line with the DfT Best Practice Guidance  which was published Friday 17th November 2023.

Private Hire Driver Policy and Conditions,
New condition added.
8.2: Once a hiring has been accepted the driver shall complete that hiring unless there is good cause not to. Any hiring that has been accepted but is not completed by the driver must be reported with the reasons to the operator immediately.

Private Hire Operator Policy and Conditions.
New condition added.
5.2: Operators are also required to keep a record of bookings that a driver accepts but then cancels together with a reason for the cancelation. The operator will have a policy of reviewing the cancelled jobs recorded, how they will address incidents of unjustified cancellations with the driver and will report the result of unjustified cancelled jobs to the licensing authority.

Amend condition 12 from ‘Notification of complaints’ to read ‘Incident Reporting’ & state -  
12.1: The operator shall record and notify the Licensing Authority of incidents or complaints that may bring into question the fitness and propriety of the driver or operator, made to the operator, regarding any driver or operator used by the operator within three working days of receipt. This includes incidents or complaints received from third parties and relates to any journey whether a hiring by the public or from contract work. 
Any response to a complaint that has already been made should be forwarded to the Council Licensing Team at the same time. Any further responses should be forwarded to the Council Licensing Team on request. The report shall include details of driver(s) and vehicle(s) involved and the hirers name and contact details.

The relevant policy and conditions documents will be updated and will be available on the website.

There are still several areas of the DfT Best Practice Guidance to be digested and considered, so further information will follow. 

OTHER MATTERS

Working Credit/Debit card payment machine in all Hackney Carriages. 
This is a reminder that the Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Driver’s Code of Conduct states: Hackney Carriage drivers are to always provide a means of accepting payment by card, including contactless payment.
If your card machine stops working or is faulty, you should leave the taxi rank and cease working until the issue is resolved. We have recently carried out some mystery shopper test purchasing, and a number of drivers were issued with a written warning for not having a working machine and plying for hire. Only one warning will be issued and enforcement action will be considered, should the same driver be test purchased again and there is no working card machine.

Online application forms.
We are setting up application forms that are submitted and the fee paid online. We are already live with the private hire driver licence ‘new’ and ‘renewal’ form. Both the hackney carriage driver and private hire vehicle forms are being tested and will be released very soon. After the online form is live, no further paper forms will be available. When your renewal is due, a letter will be sent to you in the usual way (usually email) giving you a link to the online form. 

Licensed vehicle accident or defect reporting.
As per the licence conditions, all accidents involving an Eastleigh Borough Council licensed vehicle must be reported to the licensing team with 72 hours in writing. Further information and the accident report form is available on our website.

Roof Lights on Hackney Carriages Plying for Hire.
Please ensure that your roof light is illuminated when you are plying for hire during the hours of darkness/low light. This includes any position on the rank, not just the first spot. I have had to speak to a number of drivers recently regarding this. 

Licensed Transport Forum.
The minutes from the recent Licensed Transport Forum can be viewed on the website.

Yours faithfully,

Andy Jeffery
Senior Licensing Officer
Licensing Team
Eastleigh Borough Council
Southampton & Eastleigh Licensing Partnership