An auditor has found a series of failings in Hyndburn council’s taxi licensing charges.
The District Auditor investigated the council’s advertising of its fees and other aspects of its licensing policies following a complaint by Talib Zaman, who runs Max Cabs in Accrington.
The Observer reported how Hyndburn Council set aside £210,000 to repay increased licence fees in July after it failed to advertise fee hikes.
Following a nine-month investigation the auditor has now found the council not only failed to advertise the fees but also failed to determine the fees in accordance with the law, and failed to use separate accounts for different types of licensing and made a profit from licence fees.
In her findings district auditor Karen Murray said: “The council has accepted that there was a significant failure on its part in not placing the adverts for the relevant taxi licensing fees.
“We find that this failure means the council has charged licence fees contrary to the law in the period 2011/12.
“Moreover the council has been unable to supply evidence to support the costs for drivers’ licences, vehicles’ and operators’ licences last advertised in 2003 to demonstrate that these are broadly in accordance with the act.” Mr Zaman accused the council of ‘hiding their heads in the sand’ over the issue.
He said: “We have pursued this complaint to the District Auditor because the council were clearly not complying with the legislation.
“ We are currently seeking further legal advice on how to pursue this issue.”
But council leader Miles Parkinson said they had already acted and the council was planning to repay the overcharges.
He said: “We are pleased the district auditor has recognised the steps we are taking to rectify the position and make sure nothing of the kind happens again.
“We plan to start making repayment of fees once our new taxi fees are in place, hopefully around the beginning of September.”
