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

5 DRIVERS5.1 Parallel Procedures5.1.1 The statutory and practical criteria and qualifications for a private hire driverare broadly identical to those for a hackney carriage driver. The sectionsbelow, therefore, apply equally to private hire and hackney carriage drivers.5.2 Dual Licences5.2.1 This Council has always required that separate driver’s licences be held inrespect of hackney carriage and private hire vehicles. There is, however,nothing, in law, that prevents the granting of dual licences that serve as alicence to drive both types of vehicle.5.2.2 Although the present system of two separate licences works well, it doespreclude some drivers, who may wish to do so, from electing to obtain onesingle licence that will provide them with the flexibility to drive eitherhackney or private hire vehicles on any particular occasion. As well as theprivate hire and hackney driver’s licence a new category of Dual Driver’sLicence will be introduced to provide increased choice for those drivers, whomay wish obtain one single licence that will allow them to drive eitherhackney or private hire vehicles. Whilst such a change may have someadverse effect on the revenue generated from issuing driver’s licences, it isconsidered that relatively few drivers would be affected by this change andthat any reduction in income could be ameliorated by amendments to thefees and charges levied for driver’s licences.5.3 Age and Experience5.3.1 The guidance recommends against setting a maximum age limit for driversprovided that regular medical checks are made on them. It also considersthat minimum age limits, beyond the statutory periods for holding a fulldriver licence are inappropriate, advising that applicants should be assessedon their merits.5.3.2 A licence to drive a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle will not begranted to a person who is under 20 years of age. In addition, a licence willnot be granted to anyone over 20 who has not held a full driving licence fora period of one year.5.3.3 In relation to those persons over 65, reference should be made to Section5.6 below.5.4 Topographical Knowledge (Driver Knowledge Tests)5.4.1 Taxi drivers clearly need a good working knowledge of the area for whichthey are licensed, because taxis can be hired immediately, directly with thedriver, at ranks or on the street. The DOT recognises that most authoritiesrequire would-be taxi-drivers to pass a test of local topographical knowledgeas a condition of first grant of a licence. (The stringency of the test reflectingthe complexity or otherwise of the local geography, on the principle ofensuring that barriers to entry into the trade are not unnecessarily high).5.4.2 It is argued that such topographical knowledge is, perhaps, not quite soimportant for private hire drivers as PHVs are not legally available forimmediate hiring in the same way as taxis. (To hire a PHV the would-bepassenger has to go through an operator, so the driver has an opportunityto check the details of a route before starting a journey). It is, however, not20