The battle for national PH standards

There’s a bit of a tug of war in the private hire industry at the moment. One the one hand, there are progressive voices who want to see processes streamlined and bureaucracy reduced by moving toward a national standard.

On the other hand, there are drivers and operators whose world-view is very local, who see ride-hailing companies moving in to their territories – often without local licenses – which makes a tough existence even tougher.

In their corner are the Unions – because that’s their job – and the local authorities themselves, who fear losing valuable licensing revenue if everybody goes and gets licensed in Wolverhampton.

We’re on the side of the progressives. We have heard so many tales of woe about inconsistent and lethargic local authorities, taking months to approve licenses and charging over the odds for the privilege. And over the years, we’ve seen a vast volume of whimsical decisions about CCTV, window tints, signage, roof lights, car colours and other unhelpful nif-naf and trivia.

It really doesn’t have to be like this. If you want to be a bus driver, you can get a PSV license anywhere – complete the training, pass the test, pay the standard fee and you’ve got your badge. There’s no difference in cost or quality from council to council. It is a national standard. The same for HGV licenses for truck drivers. Both HGV and PSV licenses require specialist training, and the public safety issue is far greater than driving a cab.

To achieve this properly would involve legislation, and would require Government backing. Within the next two weeks, we will have a new Government, almost certainly a Labour one. This could prove to be an obstacle in achieving this goal.

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, a prominent Labour politician and probably a future Labour leader, has called for a rethink of the Deregulation Act because so many Mancunian drivers are getting licensed in Wolverhampton.

It’s understandable that he might not want to lose council revenue, but he needs to ask himself why that’s happening. It’s not because Wolverhampton’s standards are lower than those in Manchester – it’s because the licensing department is more efficient and more reasonably priced.

So there are two choices here. Either match Wolverhampton prices and process-ing speed, or give all the work to them, as suggested by James Button (see page 12).

Button’s plan is clever – it gives the private hire sector the chance to bring in its own national standards without government interference. It’s far from perfect. There’s no guarantee councils will buy in to the scheme. Indeed, some may flatly refuse. Some operators may be happy with the way things are. And there’s the issue of London, which may be best left alone with its own set of rules.

But if a significant number of large councils agree to put all their licensing through a single council – Wolves would be the obvious one – then you have the basic framework for a national standard.

You wouldn’t even need “plates” with the city crest. Just a window sticker, as in London. Number plate recognition is sufficient to identify a vehicle, providing you have a properly maintained database.

It’s important that we do not undo the positive aspects of the deregulation act. We don’t want the “ABBA principle” where journeys have to start and finish in a “home council” area. That is a license to create dead mileage and increase pollution and congestion levels.

And while we’re looking at the law –make sure you respond to the government consultation on VAT on private hire fares. The document is very fair, and suggests a number of likely outcomes.

There is a view that a form of margin scheme, similar to TOMS but tailored to private hire (PHOMS?) is the most likely outcome. But equally, why should we pay VAT at all? But passengers do not pay VAT, and nor do train passengers.

The argument that a bus is somehow cleaner and greener than a PHV as it can carry more people is erroneous.

Many buses are still dirty diesels, and a double-decker with a handful of people on board is a lot less environmentally friendly than a few electric PHVs. If the government is going to play the “green” card on this one, we’ll raise them. PHVs are part of the public transport system. Unlike buses, they work 24/7, 365 days a year. And they look after the most vulnerable people in the most challenging times. If ever a public service deserved VAT exemption, it’s this one.

The consultation can be found here.

Please complete it:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/ consultation-on-the-vat-treatment-of-privatehire-vehicles