Spring Radio Cars Limited For Judicial Review V. Glasgow City Council
| Jurisdiction | Scotland |
| Judge | Lady Smith,Lord Menzies,Lady Dorrian |
| Judgment Date | 11 February 2014 |
| Neutral Citation | [2014] CSIH 21 |
| Court | Court of Session |
| Published date | 11 February 2014 |
| Docket Number | P897/12 |
| Date | 11 February 2014 |
| EXTRA DIVISION, INNER HOUSE, COURT OF SESSION | |
| [2014] CSIH 21 | |
| Lord Menzies Lady Smith Lady Dorrian | P897/12 OPINION OF THE COURT delivered by LORD MENZIES in the reclaiming motion by SPRING RADIO CARS LIMITED Petitioners and Reclaimers; against GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL Respondents: _______________ |
Alt: Anderson QC, Blair; Glasgow City Council Legal Services
11 February 2014
Introduction
[1] The petitioners carry on business as operators of private hire cars. They own about 180 vehicles which are driven by self-employed drivers. They also operate a fleet of about 500 other vehicles which are owned by third parties. Among the areas in which the petitioners provide private hire car services is the City of Glasgow.
[2] Private hire cars are, like taxi cabs, available for hire by members of the public. The manner in which private hire cars operate differs in a number of respects from that in which taxi cabs operate. There are certain restrictions on picking up passengers which apply to private hire cars but not to taxis: private hire cars are not allowed to ply for trade; their drivers are not allowed to pick up passengers who attempt to hail them in the street; their fares are calculated by reference to the mileage driven and not by reference to a taxi-meter.
[3] The respondents are the licensing authority for the City of Glasgow for the purposes of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. They maintain a list of types of vehicle which they regard as suitable for use as a private hire car ("the Approved Vehicles List").
[4] It was agreed between the parties that the population of the City of Glasgow is approximately 529,300. Within the City of Glasgow there are over 1,428 taxi cabs licensed by the respondents, and about 2,800 private hire cars licensed by them.
[5] The petitioners wish to have a modified version of the Fiat Scudo van included in the Approved Vehicles List. This vehicle is already approved by the respondents for use as a taxi cab. The Fiat Scudo is a van which is imported into the United Kingdom from France, where it is manufactured by a joint venture formed between the Italian company Fiat and the French group PSA Peugeot Citroen (or subsidiaries of those companies). The petitioners aver that each year around 500 of these vans, having an aggregate value when imported of around £6.4 million, are imported into the United Kingdom from France for conversion into either private hire cars or taxi cabs. There are other makes and models of vehicles which are imported into the United Kingdom for this purpose. For example, the Peugeot Expert van is imported into the United Kingdom from France, and is converted for this purpose in the United Kingdom (a converted Expert sometimes being called an E7). The Mercedes Vito vehicle is imported from Spain into the United Kingdom, sometimes already adapted for use as a taxi, and sometimes requiring conversion for this purpose in the United Kingdom. The Mercedes Viano/M8 is also imported from Spain into the United Kingdom, and requires to be converted into a taxi or a private hire car after it has been imported.
[6] The petitioners aver that there is a company in the Glasgow area which carries out the work of adapting Fiat Scudo vans (and vehicles manufactured by Peugeot and Mercedes) for use as taxi cabs or private hire vehicles. They aver that the adapted Fiat Scudo (which is called a "Scotcab's Fiat Scudo", or, in the case of another company that carried out such works until recently, a "Paton TW 200") is well suited for use either as a taxi cab on the one hand or as a private hire car on the other hand, and that it has "whole vehicle MI type approval" in terms of the relevant directives of the European Union relating to the type-approval of motor vehicles and their trailers.
[7] The respondents have already approved the converted Fiat Scudo vehicle for use as a taxi cab. It is the policy or practice of the respondents that they will not usually allow vehicles of the same type to operate both as taxis and as private hire cars. The history of this policy/practice may be summarised as follows.
On 9 October 1990 the respondents' Licensing Committee adopted the text of the Approved Vehicles List in the following terms:
"PRIVATE HIRE CAR LICENSING
APPROVED CARS LIST
1. This list indicates 'Yes' or 'No' to each make and model of car. 'Yes' means the model is approved, 'No' that it is not.
2. Even though any model is approved, it must nonetheless meet the basic criteria:-
(a) marked 'Yes' on the list and
(b) Engine size of nominal 1600 cc or more
(c) 4 door type (or 5 if hatchback or estate)
(d) Rear seat width 48'' or more
(e) Right hand drive.
e.g. Austin Maestro is 'Yes', but Maestro 1300 is not acceptable.
3. Vehicles which are purpose-built as taxis or 'hackney carriages' are not approved for use as private hire cars. Currently these are Carbodies FX4 types, and MCW/Reliant Metrocabs.
4. Occasionally applications may be made for unusual vehicles. The Committee may entertain such applications, if there is good reason."
[8] On 8 September 2008 the petitioners applied to the respondents to have the Scotcab Fiat Scudo added to the list of approved vehicles. On 25 September 2008 the respondents' Committee met for the purpose of considering this application. The Committee considered a report dated 25 September 2008 which stated inter alia:
"Members will be aware of the practice that if a vehicle is approved for use as a taxi, it would not be approved for use as a private hire car, and vice versa."
That report was accompanied by an earlier report on the Scotcab Fiat Scudo dated 11 September 2008 from the Inspection Centre Manager of the respondents' Land Services Department. This earlier report stated inter alia:
"The above vehicle was assessed by the Inspection Centre and the findings are that the base vehicle is built on the Fiat Scudo, which is the same vehicle as the Patons Taxi TW 200. It is usually Council practice not to allow the same vehicles to operate as both taxis and private hire cars. The front page of documentation from Scotcab describes the vehicle as a "wheelchair accessible taxi adaptation"."
[9] In 2009 the petitioners applied to the respondents' Committee to have the Paton TW 200 vehicle added to the list of approved vehicles. Their application was considered at a meeting of the Committee on 4 March 2009. At the meeting the chairman and other Committee members referred inter alia to the similarity of the Paton TW 200 vehicle to vehicles which had already been added to the list of approved vehicles for use as taxi cabs and the danger that members of the public would confuse the Paton TW 200 private hire vehicle with a taxi cab. The respondents' Committee has departed from this policy/practice on only two occasions. The Committee approved the Mercedes Viano and the Mercedes Vita for use as a private hire car and approved the Mercedes M8 Hackney for use as a taxi. The petitioners maintain that the Viano, the Vito and the M8 are essentially one and the same vehicle under different names.
[10] The respondents have been quite open with the petitioners in explaining the basis for their policy/practice in this regard. For example, the respondents' Executive Legal Manager (Licensing) wrote to the petitioners by letter dated 2 February 2009 in the following terms:
""I refer to your request, by email dated 8 September 2008, for approval of a new vehicle type, namely a Fiat Scudo, as a Private Hire Car vehicle.
...
The information attached to your letter of 22 September 2008 will be taken into account.
You will be given an opportunity to address the Committee on the terms of your request. In doing so you should be in a position to address the Committee on the Council's long-standing policy/practice regarding the approval of vehicles for use as Private Hire Cars.
The Council's policy/practice is as follows:-
· The legislation - the Civic Government (Scotland) act 1982 - draws a clear distinction between the operations of a Taxi and the operations of a Private Hire Car.
· Section 10(2) of the Act states 'A Licensing Authority shall not grant or renew a Taxi Licence or Private Hire Car Licence unless they are satisfied that the vehicle to which the Licence is to relate is suitable in type, size and design for use as a Taxi or Private Hire Car, ....'
· In exercising the power given by that Section, the Council, as Licensing Authority, takes the view that to reflect the distinct operations of Taxis and Private Hire Cars, the vehicles to be approved for each use should also be distinct in terms of 'type' & 'design'.
· The 'distinctive approach' of the Legislation is also reflected by the terms of Section 14 of the Act which prohibits signage etc., on a Private Hire Car that may even suggest that the vehicle is available for hire as a Taxi.
· In pursuance of this 'distinctive approach' the Council has consistently maintained two separate approved vehicle lists - one for approved vehicles to be used for Taxis and one for approved vehicles to be used as Private Hire Cars.
· The Council's Licensing Committee on 9 October 1990 approved the approach to be taken with regard to the approval of vehicles for use as Private Hire Cars - that is the Committee approved a Report on the basis that 'vehicles which are purpose-built as Taxis or "hackney carriages" are not approved for use as a Private Hire Car'. That policy/practice remains in force.
Your request for approval of a new vehicle type for use as a Private Hire Car, namely the Fiat Scudo, will require to be considered against the terms of the policy/practice as aforesaid. That is because the Fiat Scudo is the same base vehicle as the Fiat TW200 which has already been approved for use as a purpose-built Taxi.
In presenting your request to the Committee you should be in a position to address the Committee as to why your...
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