The York Council is joining forces with neighbouring authorities in West Yorkshire in an attempt to root out rogue private hire vehicle operators.

Licensing standards in different authorities vary. It has been alleged that some companies exploit these differences to operate with minimal standards.

Currently York Council officers have no powers to conduct any enforcement activity on taxis or private hire drivers or vehicles not licensed by the authority. Operators may choose to be licensed by authorities with less rigorous licensing standards and simply transfer bookings from the York district to that operating base. There may be significant difficulties in verifying whether a pre booking was in place, when investigating plying for hire concerns.

A report to a Council committee details the objectives of having a common policy across York and West Yorkshire

• Safeguarding- child sexual exploitation – human trafficking – a common minimum training standard for the trade.
• Driver application process – improved common minimum standards
• English comprehension – common minimum standards for new applicants, it would only apply to existing licence holders where there was an identified need, with the focus being on training and development within an agreeable timeframe.
• Convictions Policy and Convictions Criteria – standard criteria be adopted.
• Decision making-scheme of delegation – all local authorities introduce a scheme of delegation to Officers for decision making.
• Private Hire Operator Conditions – a common standard across the Combined Authority.
• Private Hire Vehicle Conditions – all West Yorkshire and York licensed vehicles have similar recognisable door livery which deforms when removed.
• Common Byelaws – Hackney Carriages – a common standard across the Combined Authority.
• Authorised Officer status – Licensing and Enforcement Officers able to carry out inspection and suspension powers on a vehicle licensed by any Combined Authority, through the scheme of delegation of powers being coordinated across all the authorities to enable more efficient enforcement action.

While steps to safeguard the public interest will be welcomed in the City, the current proposals do not appear address cross border issues concerning vehicles from other parts of North Yorkshire or Teesside.