High Court to decide on new Valley taxi policy

CHARLOTTE GREEN

NEW licensing policies will be ruled on in the High Court after the Valley’s taxi trade successfully applied for a judicial review.

A revised taxi licensing policy was approved with no amendments by Rossendale’s licensing committee on March 16, but the implementation of mandatory CCTV in cabs and the reduction of entry age of vehicles will not take place until the outcome of a judicial review, brought by the Rossendale Taxi Association, is decided.

Legal services manager Claire Birtwistle confirmed that there would be also no enforcement on tinted windows - which are no longer allowed under new policies - until the judicial review has concluded.

David Lawrie, chairman of the Rossendale Taxi Association, said they are consulting with a barrister, but he will be representing the trade during legal proceedings.

He said: “We are challenging the policy to reduce vehicle age from seven to five years, the ban on tinted windows and the mandatory CCTV. It is going ahead. Permission has been granted by a second High Court judge who agrees we have a strong case.

“Those are the ones that we have the strongest legal arguments on. It may be that the whole policy is brought into question.

“We have no problem with hackneys having CCTV, we actively encour- age that, but we are opposing their mandatory introduction because of the cost to drivers.

“If the council would put their hand in their pocket to subsidise it we wouldn’t have a problem.”

Coun Steve Hughes, chairman of the licensing committee, said: “We have had a bad reputation as a local authority, and now we are seen as a leading authority in terms of our policies. Ultimately our responsibility as a council is to make sure the public are safe. I feel we are doing that. I am hoping that the judicial review will conclude relatively quickly. Obviously there is a substantial cost that needs to be met by the trade.”

Judge Philip Raynor QC, sitting in Manchester High Court, has approved an interim order, meaning ●● David Lawrie, chair of the Rossendale Taxi Association, said they were consulting with a barrister while council licensing committee chairman Coun Stephen Hughes (inset) is hoping for a swift ruling that until the judicial review has concluded the council cannot enforce the three disputed poli- cies - originally approved by the licensing committee last November.

In a statement, Judge Raynor said: “On the evidence before me, it seems to me that the claimant has an arguable case.”