Licensing

• Councils welcome report into tougher taxi laws

  Local authorities have welcomed recommendations to introduce national minimum standards for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.

  

• Whitehall launches selective licensing review

  The Government has announced it is launching a review into selective licensing to find out how well it is working.

  

• Blackpool first council to be awarded self-supply water licence

  Blackpool Council has been granted a self-supply licence to manage and monitor its own water usage across its 120 sites.

  

• Council fines 'try before you buy’ sex toy shop

  A local authority in the north east has fined a sex doll company £10,000 for operating without a licence.

  

• Redbridge cracks down on ‘rogue landlords’ with licensing scheme

  The Government has given the go-ahead for the expansion of a new licensing scheme across Redbridge to help the council improve conditions for private renters.

  

• Brighton is latest council to turn down Uber licence

  Brighton & Hove City Council has refused to renew Uber’s licence after finding the firm is not ‘fit and proper’.

  

• New guide provides national benchmark for granting taxi licences

  A new guide to help councils decide if someone should be granted a taxi or private hire licence has been published today by the Institute of Licensing (IoL).

  

• Burnham proposes ‘rogue landlord’ amnesty

  Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has proposed an amnesty for ‘rogue landlords’ in an attempt to drive them out of the private rented sector.

  

• Calls for councils to have power to confiscate properties from criminal landlords

  Local authorities should be given the power to confiscate properties from landlords who exploit vulnerable tenants, MPs have said today.

  

• Rogue landlord database goes live

  A new national database which will enable councils to share information about rogue landlords went live today as part of an effort to crackdown on illegal practices in the private rented sector.