Who are the Institute of Licensing and what do they do in the Taxi and Private Hire Trade?
If you’re in the taxi and private hire (PH) trade you may have heard of the Institute of Licensing (IoL). But you might not be familiar with who they are or what they do. Many people are under the impression that they simply represent licensing authorities in the trade, but that isn’t the case. In this article we’ll cover exactly what they do.
Who are the Institute of Licensing (IoL)
According the IoL website, they are ‘the professional body for licensing practitioners across the UK.’ They operate across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and have 12 regional directors who represent the issues in their localities. They work in every industry where a licence is issued from gambling to animal welfare and of course taxi and PH licensing.
In the world of taxi and PH, it is often assumed that they only represent licensing authorities. In a recent article, published in the PHTM, Mike Smith, Vice-Chair of the Institute of Licensing, clarifies their position. He says:
“I was surprised that a large number of delegates I spoke to believed that the IoL was solely an organisation which represented local Licensing Authorities. This is not the case. The IoL is a professional body that represents anyone with an interest in licensing, and as every member of the taxi and private hire trade will either be required to hold a licence or work with someone that does, every member of the trade must therefore have an interest.”
While licensing authorities are members of the IoL, membership is also made up of trade reps, suppliers and the legal profession.
What do they do?
You can find the full stated objectives of the IoL on their website. They do go into great depth about what they are trying to achieve in licensed industries. Simply put, they aim to bring together stakeholders from across the industries they are involved in to discuss issues, share knowledge and build best practice.
The IoL produce multiple publications to help inform those with an interest in licensing. They have a quarterly magazine called LINK (Licensing Information News & Knowledge). They also manage a more in-depth and academic publication called the Journal of Licensing. This is produced three to four times a year and includes the most up-to-date examples of case law and opinion on the big issues in licensing.
On top of this they also deliver extensive amounts of training spanning multiple sectors. This includes e-learning as well as in-person training sessions and conferences.
Upcoming Events
One of the biggest events in the IoL’s calendar is the National Training Conference. This 3-day event goes into detail about the biggest issues affecting licensed industries and includes a raft of industry experts running sessions, workshops and talks.
TaxiPlus are sponsoring and attending the IoL National Training Conference this year. If you’re heading there, please come and give our stand a visit, we’d love to have a chat! On the stand, we will have TaxiPlus, General Manager, Ryan Sidley and, Copywriter, JP. You can check them out discussing industry news as hosts on our ‘What Time You On ‘Til?’ podcast, available on all major platforms or you can find it here.
For more information about the IoL National Training Conference and to book tickets, you can do so here. You can find the event programme here.