Exeter City Council, R (On the Application Of) v Sandle

A hackney carriage licence may be renewed under section 60 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 after the one-year period in section 43 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 has expired. Renewal may operate as the grant of a fresh licence and is not prevented by the expiry of the original licence.

However, a licensing authority may impose a condition requiring applications to be made before expiry. Failure to comply will ordinarily justify refusal, subject to exceptional circumstances. A short period should sensibly be allowed before a replacement licence is granted to another applicant.

The claimant council appealed by way of case stated against a Crown Court decision concerning its refusal to renew Nicholas Sandle’s hackney carriage licence after the licence had expired. The Crown Court held that the licence remained capable of renewal and that, in the circumstances, it ought to have been renewed. It also directed that a fresh licence should be granted, a conclusion which the council did not challenge.

The appeal therefore concerned the legal meaning of renewal under section 60 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976, and its relationship with the one-year duration prescribed by section 43 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847.

1. The appeal was dismissed. The Crown Court’s decision that the licence could be renewed was upheld.
2. Section 60(1) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 presupposed a power to renew a licence granted under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847. The word “renew” could properly mean granting the licence afresh, so that each renewed licence lasted for a further period of 12 months.
3. Section 43 of the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, which provided that a licence was in force for one year only, did not prevent renewal after the original licence had expired. It would be absurd if the administrative time required to process a timely application made renewal impossible.
4. A licensing authority could impose a condition requiring an application for renewal to be made before expiry. Where that condition was not met, refusal would ordinarily be proper. Renewal after a delay of more than a few days would require strong and exceptional circumstances.
5. Authorities operating quotas should allow a short period, perhaps two or three days, before granting a replacement licence to another applicant, so that late applications or postal delays could be considered. Whether the licence ought to have been renewed in the individual case was a discretionary question and did not require an answer as a question of law.

• High Court (Administrative Court): appeal by way of case stated dismissed.
• Crown Court at Exeter: on 1 October 2009, held that the licence was capable of renewal despite expiry and ought to have been renewed.