P2/1: Intended Use Policy – Purpose & Intention - Path of least resistance
The simple solution to the current issue is for councils to be able to legally apply an 'Intended Use Policy' (IUP) for private-hire vehicles in the same way that some councils apply an ‘IUP’ for hackney carriage vehicles. An ‘IUP’ should also be applied to an Operator’s licence.
It must be noted that:
1: An ‘IUP’ would only apply to the vehicle and not to the driver licence.
2: There is absolutely no intention to stop Cross-Border Hiring in its established natural form.
3: There is no intention to stop the perceived ‘Right to Roam’ as the ‘Right to Roam’ to pick-up or drop-off in another area would still apply under the natural transportation of ‘Cross-Border Hiring’.
4: Compared to the ABBA* system it is the path of least resistance.
The only intention is to ensure that if a proprietor of a vehicle wishes to predominantly use such a vehicle to work in a specific area, then the vehicle must have a licence in that area complying with all the local requirements needed. Any driver of that vehicle must then also be licensed accordingly.
Under private-hire licensing there is no restriction for anyone to apply for a private-hire driver/vehicle licence in any area. The only restriction is that an applicant of the vehicle must reach the required local standards.
Of which that opportunity is equally open to everyone.
The only possible reasons why someone may choose not to become licensed in the area that they intend to predominantly work in can surely only be:
A) Because they would consider that they would not meet the local conditions of licensing of that area.
C) Certain Licensing Departments are too slow, especially where there is no dedicated Licensing Department that specifically deals with hackney carriage/private-hire licensing.
Such an 'Intended Use Policy' is currently available for any council to have as a condition of licensing for hackney carriage taxis and some councils already enforce this which ensures that these vehicles stay within local Licensing Enforcement Control.
There is no reason for this to not also apply to private hire vehicles.
Department of Transport - Best Practice Guide for Taxi & Private Hire Licensing – 2023 states:
6.12 Intended use policies in respect of taxi drivers
"Holders of taxi (hackney carriages) licences are permitted to carry pre-booked fares anywhere in England and Wales, reflecting that taxi drivers may carry passengers beyond the boundary of their licensing authority, the ‘compellable area’, and seek a return fare to avoid additional miles without a fare. We are aware that a number of licensing authorities have introduced a taxi ‘intended use’ policy when considering licence applications aimed at reducing the number of taxis working predominantly to carry prebooked fares in other areas rather than plying for hire in their licensed area.
Licensing authorities should require an applicant for a taxi driver licence to declare that they intend to work predominately within the licensing authority’s area. The residential address provided by the application should be considered in assessing the likelihood of this declaration being adhered to when assessing an application for a taxi driver licence."
Again, there is no reason for this to not also apply to private hire vehicles.
An 'Intended Use Policy' as a condition of a vehicle licence is not a restriction of trade but an essential requirement to ensure that Local Licensing Control is not undermined and can carry out its obligation of ‘Local Enforcement Control’ in the interest of public safety.
There is also the very grey area of insurance that must be considered where insurance companies base the insurance premium on the area that the vehicle is licensed in, which, for all intentions and purposes does not necessarily relate on where the vehicle is going to predominantly be worked. See Section P1/7 - Hire and Reward Insurance
An interesting and much-repeated statement was made by Transport Minister Simon Lightwood in March 2025 stating that existing legislation allows both taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) to accept pre-booked fares beyond their licensing authority’s borders. He said this flexibility benefits passengers by increasing service availability.
Does this really benefit passengers? It would be very interesting if Mr Lightwood could explain in details what the customer benefits actually are?
Or is this ultimately benefitting Uber that has clear intentions to take over the private-hire industry? Keep in mind that Uber is a member of the Institute of Licensing and as such is right there at the top so is therefore able to be influential and is a master lobbyist. Perhaps ‘Bob’s Cabs’ have a place at the Institute of Licensing table...
The intention is to require all Local Authorities to be compelled under legislation to set a condition of ‘Intended Use’ for licensing for all three core licenses being: Hackney Carriage Vehicles, Private-Hire Vehicles and Private Hire Operators.
Local Licensing Enforcement:
This will reduce the need for Licensing Officers to have travel to far away areas to check on their respective licensed vehicles that under the current system allows those vehicles to predominantly work remotely out-of- sight and out-of-mind from their own respective Local Licensing Enforcement.
Currently, with the many thousands of private-hire licences issued by Wolverhampton, Licensing Officers from Wolverhampton do carry out regular Enforcement Operations outside of the Wolverhampton area. This of course is at a cost although the extraordinary amount generated in licensing fees from the thousands of licences issued pays for that Enforcement. However, other Licensing Authorities are being deprived of the benefit of such generated licence fees to be able to do the same as applicants continue to flock to Wolverhampton to become licensed.
Points of public safety to consider for the Local Enforcement of hackney carriage/private hire vehicles to predominantly work within their respective licensing areas as a condition of licensing:
Public Safety: Currently where a vehicle predominantly works in a differing Licensing Authority area the Local Enforcement has no idea as to whether the vehicle:
1: Complies with its own specific and relevant licensing conditions.
2: That the driver of the vehicle is a genuine licensed driver.
3: That the vehicle is fully insured to predominantly work outside its respective licensing area (see Section P1/7 - Hire & Reward insurance)
It is be important to note that many councils do not have a dedicated department that specifically deals with the licensing of operators, drivers and vehicles. A large number of councils only have a general licensing department that deals with various aspects of licensing such as sex shops, street vendors, local events and so on. As such the time allowed in such cases for the taxi trade can be limited.
An 'Intended Use Policy' is also required on the Operator Licence as it is the Operator that controls the use of a private-hire vehicle and a local council can enforce any reasonable condition of licensing on an ‟Operators Licence‟. Surely it is very reasonable to expect Operators to ensure that the private-hire vehicles they operate do not predominantly work hundreds of miles away from local respective Licensing Enforcement?
It is reminded that the ‘Triple Lock’ system, of all three licenses; the Driver Licence, the Vehicle Licence and the Operator Licence must be held and issued by the same authority.
This allows for natural ‘Cross-Border Hiring‟ to legally take place. This ‘Triple Lock’ legitimised what has always taken place under natural transportation hiring, especially within neighbouring areas
However, the mass abuse of ‘Predominant Out of Area Working’ of private-hire vehicles/drivers that is actively encouraged by Uber as an Operator by enticing vehicles to be licensed in one area, and yet predominantly work hundreds of miles away, has completely eroded ‘Local Licensing Control’ and infinitely more worryingly, ‘Public Safety’.
It would not be an understatement that in some areas, out-of-town private-hire drivers/vehicles are the dominate force.
This is a very serious point that the DfT and Grant Shapps the then Secretary for State Transport ignored in the 2020 published ‘DfT Statutory Taxi & Private Hire Standards‟
It is fully accepted that most council apply six monthly Enhanced DBS checks. But where the vehicle works many miles away in different areas, even daily enhanced DSB checks are worthless as who is to know if the driver is the actual licensed driver of that vehicle. Who is checking this? Certainly not the Local Enforcement of those vehicles that are being worked out-of-sight and out-of-mind many miles away.
Under an 'Intended Use Policy' a driver could still carry out that return from an area that the private hire vehicle has just dropped in. But it would stop that vehicle from predominantly and purposely loitering or staying in that area for the purpose of making a provision to be hired and defying local licensing control and being ‘out-of-sight and out-of-mind‟ of the vehicle’s own local authority enforcement.
An 'Intended Use Policy' equally applied to the Operator Licence would ensure that the full responsibility of private-hire vehicles would be under the control of the Operator knowing full well that such private-hire vehicles should not be predominantly placed and used out of area for the purposed of being hired, but would still allow for the natural transportation of Cross-Border Hiring that has always taken place.
However, where drivers of private-hire vehicles ‘Muti-App’ (working across different Apps) this would only apply at the time where an Operator has dispatched a booking to a driver of a private-hire vehicle that has predominantly placed the vehicle outside of the vehicle’s licensing area.
It would be down to the Operator to ensure that all drivers of private-hire vehicles adhere to conditions of licensing prior to onboarding them to their system. Any driver of a private-hire vehicle that the Operator knows the driver is breaching conditions of licence should remove that driver and private-hire vehicle from its system.
P2/2: Current application of an ‘Intended Use Policy’ as applied to hackney carriages
Under current legislation all Licensing Authorities can already have an ‘IUP' for hackney carriage vehicles. This means that if a hackney carriage vehicle is *predominantly used outside of its licensing authority that Licence could be revoked.
It has to be questioned as to why an ‘IUP' has always been specifically available to local licensing authorities for hackney carriage vehicles and in some areas that condition is in enforced.
The principal answer to this is ‘Local Licensing Control and Enforcement' that was granted by Parliament many years ago.
This is because when a hackney carriage vehicle is licensed in Local Authority ‘A’ but predominantly works in Local Authority ‘B’, which could be many miles away, Local Licensing Control in Licensing Authority ‘B’ is undermined and Local Authority ‘A’ is unable to fulfil its obligation to carry out Local Licensing Enforcement.
It is a statutory requirement that under ‘Model Bylaws for Hackney Carriages’ that a hackney carriage must return to the nearest available council stand (Taxi Rank) in its own area.
Local Councils should now be applying an 'Intended Use Policy' on all hackney carriages by default.
Even before any possible change in Legislation to enforce an 'Intended Use Policy' for all three Licences it is now time for Local Licensing Authorities to be proactive and look at introducing an 'Intended Use Policy' for their Hackney Carriage vehicles even though it may not be perceived as a current issue. This is because it sets the standard expected and also encourages neighbouring Local Licensing Authorities to also take action.
P2/3: Intended Use Policy for hackney carriages and private-hire vehicles – Basic Draft - To be agreed
A hackney carriage vehicle or private hire vehicle licensed in one local authority can, from time-to-time be used to fulfil pre- booked hirings in another local authority. At all times a hackney carriage remains a hackney carriage.
However, hackney carriage vehicle licence / private-hire vehicle licence shall have an ‘Intended Use’ policy applied as a condition of licensing to ensure that such vehicles do not predominantly* make provision for hire and reward outside of respective local licensing control and to ensure the immediate availability for inspection of respective conditions of licensing under local licensing Enforcement Control.
In order that the Council may retain local control over its own licensed vehicles applicants will be asked as part of the application process which area they intend to entirely or predominantly operate from for the purposes of fulfilling pre-booked hirings.
It will be incumbent upon the applicant to demonstrate to the council’s satisfaction that they intend to predominantly undertake work with the council’s licensed vehicle within the local authority area. If the applicant indicates that they will not predominately use the councils licensed vehicle within the licensing authority area the applicant would normally be refused
If the applicant is subsequently found to be predominately using the vehicle outside the licensing authority area the vehicle Licence could be revoked.
In order to ensure that the councils Local Enforcement is not impeded in its duty, a licensed vehicle may not remain in an area where the vehicle licence is not held for the purpose of making a provision for future hiring.
The penalty incurred for a breach of the condition of licensing may initially incur a written warning followed by revocation of licence following concordant action between Licensing Authortities
An ‘Intended Use’ condition of licence shall not impede the ‘Right to Roam’ to drop-off or pick-up a pre-booking in another controlled licensing area.
It is not the intention to hinder the natural transit of cross-border hiring but to ensure that licensed vehicles are not ‘Predominantly Out of Area Working’ (POAW) for the purpose of being hired beyond respective Licensing Enforcement Control.
It is not the intention for an ‘Intended Use Policy’ to act as a restraint of trade since applicants may make applications to any local authority in whichever area they intend to predominantly undertake work under whatever conditions may be applied.
*Predominantly – The majority of work undertaken over a period of time as a licensed vehicle of a time period determined by Local Licensing Enforcement from any Licensing Authority at any time. It would not be considered reasonable for such a time period to be based on one or two days, but a period that would be recognised as being reasonable in court should an appeal be lodged by the vehicle proprietor.
P2/4: Intended Use Policy Operator Licence – Basic Draft - To be agreed
An Operator licensed in one local authority can undertake to fulfil pre-booked hirings in another Local Authority providing the ‘Triple-Lock ‟ is in force being:
The Driver – The Vehicle – The Operator... all being licensed under one licensing authority.
However, in order that the Council may retain local control over those vehicles undertaking such work in another area on behalf of the Operator, the applicant for a licence to Operate will be asked as part of the application process as to which area they intend to entirely or predominantly operate for the purposes of fulfilling pre-booked hirings and supplying vehicles licensed by the council.
An ‘Intended Use Policy’ shall be a condition of an Operator’s licence to ensure that Operators do not predominantly* use respective private-hire vehicles in areas where there is no Operators licence in force. This does not affect ‘Sub-Contracting’ as defined under the ‘Triple Lock’.
It is not the intention to hinder the natural transit of cross-border hiring but to ensure that hackney carriages**/private-hire vehicles do not predominantly work out of area for the purpose of being hired away from their respective Licensing Enforcement.
It will be incumbent upon the applicant to demonstrate to the council’s satisfaction that the Operator intends to predominantly only fulfil pre-booked hirings with vehicles licensed by the council within the Licensing Authority that the Operator holds the Licence.
If the applicant indicates that they will be using vehicles licensed by the council outside the Local Authority area the application will normally be refused.
In order to ensure that the councils Local Enforcement is not impeded in its duty, if the applicant is found to be placing vehicles licensed by the council outside the councils licensing area for the provision to undertake future hirings booked or not yet booked in another Local Authority area, the Operator Licence could be revoked.
This section is not intended to act as a restraint of trade since applicants may make applications to any local authority in whichever area they intend to predominantly undertake work as a licensed Operator using private-hire drivers/vehicles licensed in the same area under whatever local conditions that may be applied.
Where licensed vehicles ‘Multi-App’ the onus of conformity shall remain with the proprietor of the licensed vehicle. However, a condition of an Operator’s licence shall have an imposed agreement between the proprietor of the licensed vehicle and the Operator that the licensed vehicle shall not be predominantly used out-of-area.
The penalty incurred for a breach the condition of licensing where is if found that the Operator has aided a licensed vehicle to predominantly work out-of-area may initially incur a written warning followed by revocation of licence following concordant action between Licensing Authorities.
**Hackney Carriages do not need to work under a separate Operator licence.
*Predominantly – The majority of work undertaken over a period of time as a licensed vehicle of a time period determined by Local Licensing Enforcement from any Licensing Authority at any time. It would not be considered reasonable for such a time period to be based on one or two days, but a period that would be recognised as being reasonable in court should an appeal be lodged by the vehicle proprietor.
P2/5: Attaching reasonable conditions of Licensing
Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 – Private Hire Vehicles – Conditions of Licensing
The 1976 Act has always had provision to apply any condition of licensing that a local authority wishes to impose.
48 Licensing of private hire vehicles.
(2) A district council may attach to the grant of a Licence under this section such conditions as they may consider reasonably necessary including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this subsection, conditions requiring or prohibiting the display of signs on or from the vehicle to which the Licence relates.
It is not unreasonable for a Licensing Authority to have full Enforcement Powers on all its respective licensed drivers and vehicles. However, this cannot be achieved where such vehicles and drivers are predominantly working out of area. So it is then not unreasonable to enforce an ‘Intended Use Policy’
Part 1 - Cross-Border Hiring is not the issue
.
The simple solution to the current issue is for councils to be able to legally apply an 'Intended Use Policy' (IUP) for private-hire vehicles in the same way that some councils apply an ‘IUP’ for hackney carriage vehicles. An ‘IUP’ should also be applied to an Operator’s licence.
It must be noted that:
1: An ‘IUP’ would only apply to the vehicle and not to the driver licence.
2: There is absolutely no intention to stop Cross-Border Hiring in its established natural form.
3: There is no intention to stop the perceived ‘Right to Roam’ as the ‘Right to Roam’ to pick-up or drop-off in another area would still apply under the natural transportation of ‘Cross-Border Hiring’.
4: Compared to the ABBA* system it is the path of least resistance.
The only intention is to ensure that if a proprietor of a vehicle wishes to predominantly use such a vehicle to work in a specific area, then the vehicle must have a licence in that area complying with all the local requirements needed. Any driver of that vehicle must then also be licensed accordingly.
Under private-hire licensing there is no restriction for anyone to apply for a private-hire driver/vehicle licence in any area. The only restriction is that an applicant of the vehicle must reach the required local standards.
Of which that opportunity is equally open to everyone.
The only possible reasons why someone may choose not to become licensed in the area that they intend to predominantly work in can surely only be:
A) Because they would consider that they would not meet the local conditions of licensing of that area.
C) Certain Licensing Departments are too slow, especially where there is no dedicated Licensing Department that specifically deals with hackney carriage/private-hire licensing.
Such an 'Intended Use Policy' is currently available for any council to have as a condition of licensing for hackney carriage taxis and some councils already enforce this which ensures that these vehicles stay within local Licensing Enforcement Control.
There is no reason for this to not also apply to private hire vehicles.
Department of Transport - Best Practice Guide for Taxi & Private Hire Licensing – 2023 states:
6.12 Intended use policies in respect of taxi drivers
"Holders of taxi (hackney carriages) licences are permitted to carry pre-booked fares anywhere in England and Wales, reflecting that taxi drivers may carry passengers beyond the boundary of their licensing authority, the ‘compellable area’, and seek a return fare to avoid additional miles without a fare. We are aware that a number of licensing authorities have introduced a taxi ‘intended use’ policy when considering licence applications aimed at reducing the number of taxis working predominantly to carry prebooked fares in other areas rather than plying for hire in their licensed area.
Licensing authorities should require an applicant for a taxi driver licence to declare that they intend to work predominately within the licensing authority’s area. The residential address provided by the application should be considered in assessing the likelihood of this declaration being adhered to when assessing an application for a taxi driver licence."
Again, there is no reason for this to not also apply to private hire vehicles.
An 'Intended Use Policy' as a condition of a vehicle licence is not a restriction of trade but an essential requirement to ensure that Local Licensing Control is not undermined and can carry out its obligation of ‘Local Enforcement Control’ in the interest of public safety.
There is also the very grey area of insurance that must be considered where insurance companies base the insurance premium on the area that the vehicle is licensed in, which, for all intentions and purposes does not necessarily relate on where the vehicle is going to predominantly be worked. See Section P1/7 - Hire and Reward Insurance
An interesting and much-repeated statement was made by Transport Minister Simon Lightwood in March 2025 stating that existing legislation allows both taxis and private hire vehicles (PHVs) to accept pre-booked fares beyond their licensing authority’s borders. He said this flexibility benefits passengers by increasing service availability.
Does this really benefit passengers? It would be very interesting if Mr Lightwood could explain in details what the customer benefits actually are?
Or is this ultimately benefitting Uber that has clear intentions to take over the private-hire industry? Keep in mind that Uber is a member of the Institute of Licensing and as such is right there at the top so is therefore able to be influential and is a master lobbyist. Perhaps ‘Bob’s Cabs’ have a place at the Institute of Licensing table...
The intention is to require all Local Authorities to be compelled under legislation to set a condition of ‘Intended Use’ for licensing for all three core licenses being: Hackney Carriage Vehicles, Private-Hire Vehicles and Private Hire Operators.
Local Licensing Enforcement:
This will reduce the need for Licensing Officers to have travel to far away areas to check on their respective licensed vehicles that under the current system allows those vehicles to predominantly work remotely out-of- sight and out-of-mind from their own respective Local Licensing Enforcement.
Currently, with the many thousands of private-hire licences issued by Wolverhampton, Licensing Officers from Wolverhampton do carry out regular Enforcement Operations outside of the Wolverhampton area. This of course is at a cost although the extraordinary amount generated in licensing fees from the thousands of licences issued pays for that Enforcement. However, other Licensing Authorities are being deprived of the benefit of such generated licence fees to be able to do the same as applicants continue to flock to Wolverhampton to become licensed.
Points of public safety to consider for the Local Enforcement of hackney carriage/private hire vehicles to predominantly work within their respective licensing areas as a condition of licensing:
Public Safety: Currently where a vehicle predominantly works in a differing Licensing Authority area the Local Enforcement has no idea as to whether the vehicle:
1: Complies with its own specific and relevant licensing conditions.
2: That the driver of the vehicle is a genuine licensed driver.
3: That the vehicle is fully insured to predominantly work outside its respective licensing area (see Section P1/7 - Hire & Reward insurance)
It is be important to note that many councils do not have a dedicated department that specifically deals with the licensing of operators, drivers and vehicles. A large number of councils only have a general licensing department that deals with various aspects of licensing such as sex shops, street vendors, local events and so on. As such the time allowed in such cases for the taxi trade can be limited.
An 'Intended Use Policy' is also required on the Operator Licence as it is the Operator that controls the use of a private-hire vehicle and a local council can enforce any reasonable condition of licensing on an ‟Operators Licence‟. Surely it is very reasonable to expect Operators to ensure that the private-hire vehicles they operate do not predominantly work hundreds of miles away from local respective Licensing Enforcement?
It is reminded that the ‘Triple Lock’ system, of all three licenses; the Driver Licence, the Vehicle Licence and the Operator Licence must be held and issued by the same authority.
This allows for natural ‘Cross-Border Hiring‟ to legally take place. This ‘Triple Lock’ legitimised what has always taken place under natural transportation hiring, especially within neighbouring areas
However, the mass abuse of ‘Predominant Out of Area Working’ of private-hire vehicles/drivers that is actively encouraged by Uber as an Operator by enticing vehicles to be licensed in one area, and yet predominantly work hundreds of miles away, has completely eroded ‘Local Licensing Control’ and infinitely more worryingly, ‘Public Safety’.
It would not be an understatement that in some areas, out-of-town private-hire drivers/vehicles are the dominate force.
This is a very serious point that the DfT and Grant Shapps the then Secretary for State Transport ignored in the 2020 published ‘DfT Statutory Taxi & Private Hire Standards‟
It is fully accepted that most council apply six monthly Enhanced DBS checks. But where the vehicle works many miles away in different areas, even daily enhanced DSB checks are worthless as who is to know if the driver is the actual licensed driver of that vehicle. Who is checking this? Certainly not the Local Enforcement of those vehicles that are being worked out-of-sight and out-of-mind many miles away.
Under an 'Intended Use Policy' a driver could still carry out that return from an area that the private hire vehicle has just dropped in. But it would stop that vehicle from predominantly and purposely loitering or staying in that area for the purpose of making a provision to be hired and defying local licensing control and being ‘out-of-sight and out-of-mind‟ of the vehicle’s own local authority enforcement.
An 'Intended Use Policy' equally applied to the Operator Licence would ensure that the full responsibility of private-hire vehicles would be under the control of the Operator knowing full well that such private-hire vehicles should not be predominantly placed and used out of area for the purposed of being hired, but would still allow for the natural transportation of Cross-Border Hiring that has always taken place.
However, where drivers of private-hire vehicles ‘Muti-App’ (working across different Apps) this would only apply at the time where an Operator has dispatched a booking to a driver of a private-hire vehicle that has predominantly placed the vehicle outside of the vehicle’s licensing area.
It would be down to the Operator to ensure that all drivers of private-hire vehicles adhere to conditions of licensing prior to onboarding them to their system. Any driver of a private-hire vehicle that the Operator knows the driver is breaching conditions of licence should remove that driver and private-hire vehicle from its system.
P2/2: Current application of an ‘Intended Use Policy’ as applied to hackney carriages
Under current legislation all Licensing Authorities can already have an ‘IUP' for hackney carriage vehicles. This means that if a hackney carriage vehicle is *predominantly used outside of its licensing authority that Licence could be revoked.
It has to be questioned as to why an ‘IUP' has always been specifically available to local licensing authorities for hackney carriage vehicles and in some areas that condition is in enforced.
The principal answer to this is ‘Local Licensing Control and Enforcement' that was granted by Parliament many years ago.
This is because when a hackney carriage vehicle is licensed in Local Authority ‘A’ but predominantly works in Local Authority ‘B’, which could be many miles away, Local Licensing Control in Licensing Authority ‘B’ is undermined and Local Authority ‘A’ is unable to fulfil its obligation to carry out Local Licensing Enforcement.
It is a statutory requirement that under ‘Model Bylaws for Hackney Carriages’ that a hackney carriage must return to the nearest available council stand (Taxi Rank) in its own area.
Local Councils should now be applying an 'Intended Use Policy' on all hackney carriages by default.
Even before any possible change in Legislation to enforce an 'Intended Use Policy' for all three Licences it is now time for Local Licensing Authorities to be proactive and look at introducing an 'Intended Use Policy' for their Hackney Carriage vehicles even though it may not be perceived as a current issue. This is because it sets the standard expected and also encourages neighbouring Local Licensing Authorities to also take action.
P2/3: Intended Use Policy for hackney carriages and private-hire vehicles – Basic Draft - To be agreed
A hackney carriage vehicle or private hire vehicle licensed in one local authority can, from time-to-time be used to fulfil pre- booked hirings in another local authority. At all times a hackney carriage remains a hackney carriage.
However, hackney carriage vehicle licence / private-hire vehicle licence shall have an ‘Intended Use’ policy applied as a condition of licensing to ensure that such vehicles do not predominantly* make provision for hire and reward outside of respective local licensing control and to ensure the immediate availability for inspection of respective conditions of licensing under local licensing Enforcement Control.
In order that the Council may retain local control over its own licensed vehicles applicants will be asked as part of the application process which area they intend to entirely or predominantly operate from for the purposes of fulfilling pre-booked hirings.
It will be incumbent upon the applicant to demonstrate to the council’s satisfaction that they intend to predominantly undertake work with the council’s licensed vehicle within the local authority area. If the applicant indicates that they will not predominately use the councils licensed vehicle within the licensing authority area the applicant would normally be refused
If the applicant is subsequently found to be predominately using the vehicle outside the licensing authority area the vehicle Licence could be revoked.
In order to ensure that the councils Local Enforcement is not impeded in its duty, a licensed vehicle may not remain in an area where the vehicle licence is not held for the purpose of making a provision for future hiring.
The penalty incurred for a breach of the condition of licensing may initially incur a written warning followed by revocation of licence following concordant action between Licensing Authortities
An ‘Intended Use’ condition of licence shall not impede the ‘Right to Roam’ to drop-off or pick-up a pre-booking in another controlled licensing area.
It is not the intention to hinder the natural transit of cross-border hiring but to ensure that licensed vehicles are not ‘Predominantly Out of Area Working’ (POAW) for the purpose of being hired beyond respective Licensing Enforcement Control.
It is not the intention for an ‘Intended Use Policy’ to act as a restraint of trade since applicants may make applications to any local authority in whichever area they intend to predominantly undertake work under whatever conditions may be applied.
*Predominantly – The majority of work undertaken over a period of time as a licensed vehicle of a time period determined by Local Licensing Enforcement from any Licensing Authority at any time. It would not be considered reasonable for such a time period to be based on one or two days, but a period that would be recognised as being reasonable in court should an appeal be lodged by the vehicle proprietor.
P2/4: Intended Use Policy Operator Licence – Basic Draft - To be agreed
An Operator licensed in one local authority can undertake to fulfil pre-booked hirings in another Local Authority providing the ‘Triple-Lock ‟ is in force being:
The Driver – The Vehicle – The Operator... all being licensed under one licensing authority.
However, in order that the Council may retain local control over those vehicles undertaking such work in another area on behalf of the Operator, the applicant for a licence to Operate will be asked as part of the application process as to which area they intend to entirely or predominantly operate for the purposes of fulfilling pre-booked hirings and supplying vehicles licensed by the council.
An ‘Intended Use Policy’ shall be a condition of an Operator’s licence to ensure that Operators do not predominantly* use respective private-hire vehicles in areas where there is no Operators licence in force. This does not affect ‘Sub-Contracting’ as defined under the ‘Triple Lock’.
It is not the intention to hinder the natural transit of cross-border hiring but to ensure that hackney carriages**/private-hire vehicles do not predominantly work out of area for the purpose of being hired away from their respective Licensing Enforcement.
It will be incumbent upon the applicant to demonstrate to the council’s satisfaction that the Operator intends to predominantly only fulfil pre-booked hirings with vehicles licensed by the council within the Licensing Authority that the Operator holds the Licence.
If the applicant indicates that they will be using vehicles licensed by the council outside the Local Authority area the application will normally be refused.
In order to ensure that the councils Local Enforcement is not impeded in its duty, if the applicant is found to be placing vehicles licensed by the council outside the councils licensing area for the provision to undertake future hirings booked or not yet booked in another Local Authority area, the Operator Licence could be revoked.
This section is not intended to act as a restraint of trade since applicants may make applications to any local authority in whichever area they intend to predominantly undertake work as a licensed Operator using private-hire drivers/vehicles licensed in the same area under whatever local conditions that may be applied.
Where licensed vehicles ‘Multi-App’ the onus of conformity shall remain with the proprietor of the licensed vehicle. However, a condition of an Operator’s licence shall have an imposed agreement between the proprietor of the licensed vehicle and the Operator that the licensed vehicle shall not be predominantly used out-of-area.
The penalty incurred for a breach the condition of licensing where is if found that the Operator has aided a licensed vehicle to predominantly work out-of-area may initially incur a written warning followed by revocation of licence following concordant action between Licensing Authorities.
**Hackney Carriages do not need to work under a separate Operator licence.
*Predominantly – The majority of work undertaken over a period of time as a licensed vehicle of a time period determined by Local Licensing Enforcement from any Licensing Authority at any time. It would not be considered reasonable for such a time period to be based on one or two days, but a period that would be recognised as being reasonable in court should an appeal be lodged by the vehicle proprietor.
P2/5: Attaching reasonable conditions of Licensing
Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1976 – Private Hire Vehicles – Conditions of Licensing
The 1976 Act has always had provision to apply any condition of licensing that a local authority wishes to impose.
48 Licensing of private hire vehicles.
(2) A district council may attach to the grant of a Licence under this section such conditions as they may consider reasonably necessary including, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing provisions of this subsection, conditions requiring or prohibiting the display of signs on or from the vehicle to which the Licence relates.
It is not unreasonable for a Licensing Authority to have full Enforcement Powers on all its respective licensed drivers and vehicles. However, this cannot be achieved where such vehicles and drivers are predominantly working out of area. So it is then not unreasonable to enforce an ‘Intended Use Policy’
Part 1 - Cross-Border Hiring is not the issue
.
P2/1: Intended Use Policy – Purpose & Intention - Path of least resistance
P2/2: Current application of an ‘Intended Use Policy’ as applied to hackney carriages
P2/3: Intended Use Policy for hackney carriages and private-hire vehicles – Basic Draft - To be agreed
P2/4: Intended Use Policy Operator Licence - Intention & Purpose - Basic Draft - To be agreed
P2/5: Attaching reasonable conditions of Licensing
Part 1 - Cross-Border Hiring is not the issue
Download as pdf Here
P2/2: Current application of an ‘Intended Use Policy’ as applied to hackney carriages
P2/3: Intended Use Policy for hackney carriages and private-hire vehicles – Basic Draft - To be agreed
P2/4: Intended Use Policy Operator Licence - Intention & Purpose - Basic Draft - To be agreed
P2/5: Attaching reasonable conditions of Licensing
Part 1 - Cross-Border Hiring is not the issue
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Updated 24/04/2025
Part 2 - Hackney Carriage & Private-Hire Vehicles
Intended Use Policy for Hackney Carriages, Private-Hire Vehicles & Operators
Intended Use Policy for Hackney Carriages, Private-Hire Vehicles & Operators