Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Licensing Policy - Fylde Borough ...

4.2 Specifications and Conditions4.2.1 Local authorities have a wide range of discretion over the types of vehiclethat they can licence as taxis or private hire vehicles (PHVs).4.2.2 The DOT Draft Best Practice Guidance suggests that best practice is for locallicensing authorities to adopt the principle of specifying as many differenttypes of vehicle as possible. Authorities are encouraged to leave it open tothe taxi and PHV trades to put forward vehicles of their own choice whichcan be shown to meet their basic criteria. In that way there can be flexibilityfor new vehicle types to be readily taken into account.4.2.3 Licensing authorities are asked to be particularly cautious about specifyingonly purpose-built taxis, with the strict constraint on supply that thatimplies. (There are at present only two designs of purpose-built taxi.) Theyare, however encouraged to make use of the “type approval” rules withinany specifications they determine.4.2.4 The Authority is empowered to impose such conditions, as it considersreasonably necessary, in relation to the grant of a hackney carriage orprivate hire vehicle licence. Taxis and private hire vehicles provide a serviceto the public, so it is appropriate to set criteria for the external and internalcondition of the vehicle, provided that these are not unreasonably onerous.Appendix A sets out the minimum standards, in respect of all licensedvehicles.4.2.5 Vehicles will, in general, be licensed for the carriage of up to fourpassengers, but applications in relation to larger vehicles that canaccommodate up to eight passengers will be accepted, provided that thereis compliance with the specifications applicable to such vehicles. Purposebuiltvehicles are amongst those which a local authority will licence ashackney carriages4.3 Accessibility4.3.1 Fylde Borough currently licences97 hackney carriages only 3 ofwhich are wheelchair accessible.The government’s proposals toimplement the taxi provisions ofthe disability discrimination act1995 involve splittingimplementation into 2 phase’sdependant upon a number ofcriteria. Phase 1 authorities areto be required to introduceaccessible vehicles as hackneycarriages between 2010 to 2020.Fylde Borough is, however,classified as a phase 2 authorityas it has been defined as notmeeting one or more of therelevant criteria. No timeprovisions for implementation arecurrently laid down for phase 2authorities.10