The Crown (on the Application of Ian Gordon Shanks, Paul Thomas Shanks and Jane Bell Trading as Blue Line Taxis) v The Council of the County of Northumberland
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | MR JUSTICE FOSKETT |
| Judgment Date | 01 June 2012 |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] EWHC 1539 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | Case No: CO/4942/2011 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Date | 01 June 2012 |
[2012] EWHC 1539 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT IN LEEDS
Leeds Combined Court Centre
1 Oxford Row, Leeds, LS1 3BG
Mr Justice Foskett
Case No: CO/4942/2011
Jonathan Rodger (instructed by Nicholson & Morgan Solicitors) for the Claimant
John McGuinness QC (instructed by Elizabeth Sinnamon, Principal Solicitor, Legal Services, Northumberland County Council) for the Defendant
Hearing dates: 22 and 23 May 2012
Introduction
This case raises an interesting point concerning the powers of a local authority to impose conditions on the grant of a hackney carriage licence under section 37 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 ('the 1847 Act'). It raises the question of the relationship between that statutory provision and section 47 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 ('the 1976 Act').
The Council of the County of Northumberland ('Northumberland') says that the conditions it wishes to impose may be imposed pursuant to section 47. The Claimant submits that such conditions may not be imposed or, alternatively, if they are permissible the proposed conditions are irrational and/or unworkable.
I am told that the issue raised in this case is one that has arisen elsewhere in the country, but is as yet unresolved. Given that it is over 35 years since section 47 was enacted, that seems a little surprising. Nonetheless, that appears to be the position and it is fair to say that the general issue thrown up by this case will generally arise only where the hackney carriage licensing authority is responsible for a predominantly rural area.
Permission to bring this claim was given on the papers by Mr Timothy Dutton QC in his capacity as a deputy High Court judge. The challenged policy has not been implemented pending the outcome of this case.
The background
The three individual claimants trade in partnership as Blue Line Taxis ('the Claimant'). The firm carries on business from premises in Wallsend, Tyne & Wear, situated within the Borough of North Tyneside. The business has been operated since 1958 and utilises both hackney carriages (see paragraphs 27–33 below) and private hire vehicles (see paragraphs 34–38 below) as part of its own fleet of vehicles. It also has individual contracts with owners and drivers of vehicles of both types under which those owners and drivers agree to do private hire work at the firm's direction and under its control. The firm has in total approximately 600 vehicles within its ownership and/or under its direction and control.
The area over which it conducts its business spans the entire north east conurbation and outlying areas at the centre of which is Newcastle upon Tyne. Its business is conducted principally in the local authority areas of North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Gateshead.
The private hire vehicles operate under a Private Hire Operator's licence (under the Blue Line Taxis trading name) granted by North Tyneside Council pursuant to section 55 of the 1976 Act.
Its hackney carriages are licensed (with an appropriately licensed driver) as such by North Tyneside, various other local authorities (including the Newcastle upon Tyne City Council) and by 'Northumberland' under section 37 of the 1847 Act.
Prior to 1 April 2009 Northumberland comprised the six District and Borough Councils of Alnwick, Berwick upon Tweed, Blyth, Castle Morpeth, Tynedale and Wansbeck and Northumberland County Council. Following local government re-organisation, from that date the unitary Northumberland County Council ('Northumberland') came into being.
Northumberland (as a geographical area) is between the Tyne & Wear conurbations in the South and the Scottish Border in the North. It covers an area including Berwick upon Tweed, Wooler, Alnwick, Amble, Rothbury, Morpeth, Ponteland, Ashington, Bedlington, Blyth, Cramlington, Corbridge and Hexham. The County Council area has one of the smallest populations in the country (310,000 according to the 2001 Census), but one of the largest geographical areas covering more than 5000 square kilometres. Unlike the Tyne and Wear conurbation to the south, the County does not have large concentrations of leisure and entertainment activities. Large parts of Northumberland are rural in nature.
Following the re-organisation 'Northumberland' assumed responsibility for the licensing functions relating to hackney carriage and private hire under the two Acts referred to above. As a direct consequence of re-organisation, Northumberland has six hackney carriage licensing zones based upon the former District and Borough Council boundaries whereas private hire licensing is carried out across the whole administrative area of Northumberland.
In his witness statement prepared for these proceedings, Mr Philip Soderquest, the Public Safety Unit Manager within 'Northumberland's' Public Protection Service, sets out the following information about the overall licensing position within its area as at 1 April 2009. He said that on the basis of information compiled on 17 November 2008, Northumberland became responsible for approximately 1073 hackney carriage proprietor's licences, 1201 hackney carriage drivers licences, 439 private hire vehicle licences, 788 private hire driver's licences and 70 private hire operator's licences, which can be broken down as follows:
|
| Hackney Carriage Proprietor | Hackney Carriage Drivers | Private Hire Vehicles | Private Hire Drivers | Private Hire Operators |
| Alnwick | 10 | 40 | 50 | 30 | 15 |
| Berwick Upon Tweed | 700 | 727 | 100 | 347 | 10 |
| Blyth | 42 | 53 | 112 | 53 | 9 |
| Castle Morpeth | 130 | 147 | 71 | 123 | 15 |
| Tynedale | 161 | 153 | 56 | 74 | 48 |
| Wansbeck | 30 | 101 | 50 | 161 | 15 |
| TOTALS | 1073 | 1201 | 439 | 788 | 112 |
This represented, he said, a ratio of one licensed hackney carriage vehicle per 289/head of population.
He gave some more up-to-date figures which showed that as at 21 December 2011, based upon the number of actual licences currently granted, the ratio was one licensed hackney carriage vehicle per 350/head of population based upon a population of 310,00. He contrasted this ratio with the ratio for Newcastle City Council of 1:359 (based upon a population of 280,000 and 780 hackney carriages) and for Gateshead of 1:748 (based upon a population of 193,000 and 258 hackney carriages).
The conclusion from these figures is that the ratio of licensed hackney carriage vehicle per head of population for the predominantly rural area of Northumberland is a little higher than the ratio for Newcastle City Council and considerably higher than the ratio for Gateshead Council, both of which are self-evidently more urbanised local authority areas.
I will return to this, but it gives a clue as to what lies behind the policy that is sought to be challenged in these proceedings.
The challenged policy
Every hackney carriage licence is granted annually on the basis of a declaration by the applicant. The challenged policy concerns conditions that Northumberland resolved to impose on certain of the hackney carriage licences granted.
On 2 March 2011 Northumberland's Licensing and Regulatory Committee decided to amend its Hackney Carriage and Private Hire Licensing Policy by adopting the following recommendation made by Northumberland's Corporate Director, Health and Public Protection:
"… in circumstances where the applicant for a Hackney Carriage Proprietors licence is or is associated with a Private Hire Operator other than licensed by Northumberland County Council or declares as part of the intended use declaration, that the vehicle may or is to be used for the purposes of fulfilling pre-booked hiring's on behalf of a Private Hire Operator not licensed by Northumberland County Council that:
) Subject to all other relevant application criteria being met that the licence is granted subject to the following condition:
• The holder of the hackney carriage proprietor's licence shall ensure that an accurate and contemporaneous record is made and maintained either by himself or the driver of the vehicle, of all uses of the vehicle arising from plying for hire as a hackney carriage and when used to fulfil pre-booked hirings other than through a contract for hire with a Private Hire Operator licensed by Northumberland County Council.
• Details of all journeys, so as to include the criteria set out below, shall be legibly and clearly recorded in a stitch or heat/glue bound book so as to provide a continuous record without breaks between rows, of all uses in horizontal rows by date and time:
• Date
• Time of first "pick up"
• First "pick up" point by location/name/address including house number and post code as appropriate
• Final "drop off" point by location/name/address including house number and post code as appropriate
• Nature of hiring – whether (i) as a hackney carriage plying for hire within the County of Northumberland, or (ii) when used to fulfil pre-booked hirings other than through a contract for hire with a Private Hire Operator licensed by Northumberland County Council
• Where applicable, the name of the Private Hire Operator not licensed by Northumberland County Council through which the pre-booked hiring has been fulfilled
• Each book shall legibly and clearly display the details of the vehicle it relates to including the make, model, vehicle...
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Blue Line Taxis (Newcastle) Ltd v The Council of the City of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
...from that authority (see the comments of Foskett J in respect of the analogous hackney carriage regime in R (Blue Line Taxis) v The Council of the County of Northumberland [2012] EWHC 1539 (Admin) (" Northumberland County Council") at [61] and following). 10 In respect of licensing the oper......