New powers for Telford council over taxis
Officers at Telford & Wrekin Council have been given the power to inspect hundreds of taxis and private hire vehicles that have been licensed by Wolverhampton City County, a report reveals.
The power means that Telford’s licensing officers will be able to stop and, where necessary, suspend any Wolverhampton licensed vehicles that are found to be unsafe or potentially dangerous.
A report will then be made to Wolverhampton City Council who will then pick up any following actions.
There are some 343 private hire vehicle drivers with a Telford address who are licensed by Wolverhampton City Council. In addition there are 405 private hire drivers who have an address in the borough who are licensed by Telford & Wrekin Council, councillors will be told next week.
There are also 512 private hire (minicab) and Hackney carriage (taxi) proprietors in Telford & Wrekin, with 237 of them having a Wolverhampton address.
A report to a council meeting on Monday (October 20) reads: “On October 7, the licensing authority received confirmation that our licensing and night-time economy officers have been granted delegated authorisations by Wolverhampton City Council, which permits councils to discharge functions on behalf of another authority.”
Next Monday’s meeting of the regulatory committee has been asked to return the compliment by giving Wolverhampton City Council the same power over Telford registered taxis and minicabs in Wolverhampton.
The committee is being asked to approve the delegation of authority to Wolverhampton City Council compliance officers; and authorise officers of another licensing authority to undertake compliance functions.
The report to the committee reads that it is “considered sensible for the council to reciprocally authorise Wolverhampton licensing officers to undertake the same enforcement of Telford & Wrekin licensed private hire and hackney carriages operating within the City of Wolverhampton.”
Officials say that failing to authorise Wolverhampton officers would be “contrary to the Department for Transport’s best practice guidance.”
And if councillors do not go ahead it could result in the withdrawal of the delegated authority recently granted to Telford’s licensing officers.
“This would prevent us from suspending any Wolverhampton-licensed vehicles operating within the borough of Telford that are deemed unfit, thereby increasing the risk to public safety.”
