MAKE AN EXEMPTION: MP wades in urging council to RECONSIDER ban on pub’s charity taxi service
- Perry Richardson
- Mar 9
- 3 min read
A campaign to reinstate a charity-linked lift service run by a Kent pub landlord has gained political backing after Katie Lam wrote to the leader of Ashford Borough Council urging the authority to reconsider its position.
The dispute centres on The Flying Horse, where the landlord had been offering customers lifts home in exchange for an optional donation to the Motor Neurone Disease Association. The service was stopped after council licensing officers determined it fell within the legal scope of private hire licensing requirements.
In a letter dated 27 February to council leader Cllr Noel Ovenden, Lam referenced reports that the pub had been instructed to stop running the service. She wrote: “As I imagine you know, on 22nd February it was reported that The Flying Horse in Smarden had been told by Ashford Borough Council to stop offering a lift service to customers who made an optional donation to the Motor Neurone Disease Association.”
According to the council’s licensing team, the arrangement constituted a vehicle being made available for hire with a driver, meaning it would require the appropriate private hire licences. Lam acknowledged this interpretation in her letter, noting the authority had said the service “fell within the scope of private hire licensing requirements”.
Weald of Kent MP Katie Lam has written to Ashford Borough Council asking it to consider a licensing exemption that would allow a Smarden pub landlord to continue offering lifts home linked to voluntary charity donations.
However, the MP questioned whether the council could introduce a policy exemption in circumstances where no formal fare is charged and the service is linked to charitable fundraising. Referring to the council’s previous statement, she wrote that although “exemptions to [the broader licensing requirements] exist, these are typically limited to services such as funeral cars, wedding cars, care-workers transporting clients under their care, and genuine ambulance services”.
Lam argued that similar flexibility could be applied to community initiatives. “There is no reason that, as the licensing authority, Ashford Borough Council couldn’t make a similar policy exemption for businesses which provide a car for hire with the services of a driver, in cases where there is no charge for this service and any proceeds that might be raised… are directed entirely towards a charitable cause.”
The MP also highlighted the potential community benefits of the service. She said the pub had already helped around 100 customers get home safely since launching the initiative in November 2025, while raising approximately £700 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
“The transport service offered by The Flying Horse is a clear example of a business doing a good thing for the community,” Lam wrote. She added that the service had particular value in a rural village where public transport alternatives can be limited, stating: “This kind of service is particularly important given the lack of public transport alternatives in the village.”
Lam suggested that without the lift service the pub could struggle to attract customers at busy times. She wrote: “Without this service, the pub may very well be unable to attract customers at peak times.”
While acknowledging the role of licensing in protecting public safety, the MP argued the system should not prevent community-focused initiatives from operating. “While keeping the public safe in the context of private car hire services is doubtless extremely important, it cannot be right that services like these are prevented from operating,” she said in the letter.
She asked whether the council had discussed potential changes to its licensing regime that could allow such services to continue legally and, if not, whether those discussions would now take place.
Lam concluded by pointing to wider pressures on rural hospitality venues. “As operating costs for pubs rise rapidly, this seems to me a great, simple and pragmatic change that ABC could make to allow the rural hospitality sector to survive.”
Ashford Borough Council has previously confirmed that the lift service was halted because it met the legal definition of private hire transport, which requires drivers, vehicles and operators to be licensed to ensure passenger safety and regulatory oversight. Authorities across England enforce similar rules under national taxi and private hire legislation.
The council has indicated that the service could continue if the appropriate licences were obtained. Lam’s intervention now raises the prospect of a wider debate over whether local licensing authorities should introduce limited exemptions for community or charity-based transport schemes.
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