The Reiver
Training for dummies? going online and signing up to a university in the “If using the meter donʼt start the meter till the
I see Casey has been rambling on about driver United States, perhaps that would also satisfy passenger is seated in the vehicle”
training, well to be honest it doesnʼt matter what people, ʻHey LA I got a degree in Chemistry, can
he writes, itʼs going to happen anyway. Indeed, I drive a cab?ʼ Perhaps those local authorities
I can see that going down a treat with some of
he was admonished by one training provider as that have been warned about the ʻfl y by nightsʼ
you, I thought the hire began when the driver
a typical cab driver, I bet he was pleased with and still persist in saying, ʻtheyʼre approved by
was unable to accept another fare? Obviously
that remark! However, this magazine is hearing a the LSC and thatʼs all that matters!ʼ will change
I am going to spoil all your fun by reading it out
growing number of worrying reports about training their minds.
to you, so if you want to check it out, itʼs on the
companies latching onto the cab driver training
DfT website.
courses and basically giving drivers training Revised Best practice Guidance
certifi cates after a quickie type training day. The government say local authorities are best
Permits
placed to decide, their words not mine, so in order
Obviously, the drivers receiving the certifi cate to make sure locals are best placed to decide,
The spiralling cost of permits seems to be
merely want the certifi cate, they may not want they have now begun a consultation on revising
upsetting cab drivers up and down the country.
to take a 70 odd hour course, the councils the best practice guidance towards licensing taxis
Iʼll state this now before I carry on any further, I
need the certifi cate to basically cover their own and private hire vehicles and drivers.
donʼt believe taxis should pay a single penny to
sorry backsides with a piece of paper that may
provide a service at any transport interchange,
suggest they are doing their jobs properly (yea The proposed changes cover many aspects of
but I am aware that we live in a society where
right!), and the training company get around what will affect your day to day lives, I seriously
nobody gets anything for nothing.
£1800 per ʻstudentʼ. suggest you take an interest and respond to it,
some of the mooted ideas are actually quite good,
Mike Hughes mentioned in an exclusive story
Nobody will complain and everyone will be whereas some appear to be completely insane.
(pics and everything) about a protest in Brighton
happy… except me and those of you who after a driver was arrested for what ultimately
have done the correct training. If you consider I donʼt understand why the government make surmounts to the greed of a rail company by
20 students in a classroom are worth about laws then bring out guidance as to how to issuing too many permits for not enough rank
£36,000, it kind of tells you why the ʻfl y by enforce them, if thatʼs the case then surely the spaces. The West Coast mainline is currently
nightʼ type of training companies want as many laws are wrong or about as clear as mud. If a
causing a source of concern with Virgin trains
students through their hands as possible, it also section of the law places a duty on a driver to
increasing the cost of permits from £141 to £236.
tells you why a ʻcrash courseʼ is a preferred assist a wheelchair bound person into and out
option. Of course, some private hire operators of a vehicle, why would the government need to
As written before, the permit system is designed
are additionally culpable, they want the training give guidance that basically states such?
to keep taxis out of locations, this naturally suits
done quick to ensure more drivers are recruited.
some (i.e. those with the permits). We are all
But all of this is wrong. One of the reasons Vehicle testing is also brought under the spotlight
aware of situations where union involvement
training was fi rst brought up as an idea was with something produced by the ʻTechnical
the fact that the taxi and PH trades have a high Offi cer of the Public Authority Transport Networkʼ
has led to basically taxis leaving stations and
turnover of drivers, it was hoped a qualifi cation (whoever and whatever they are), who have
private hire cars arriving. (as you would expect
of sorts, would at least go some way towards apparently produced their own best practice
this is now the councilʼs fault).
keeping people in the trades, rather than seeing guidance on the testing and inspection of
us as a job in between jobs. Therefore the taxis and private hire vehicles. Canʼt seem to
Arguably, these situations can be easily infl amed,
ʻfl y by nightʼ training companies are operating remember any consultation, but I suppose thatʼs
a number of mouthy so and soʼs within the local
not only against what the learning and skills technical stuff we wonʼt understand?
trade can lead to dialogue breaking down and
council want, but ultimately against the taxi and
action being taken, which is no bad thing, but
private hire trade by ensuring the easily issued Annex B of the guidance has a rather grandiose
the consequences could be infi nitely worse than
qualifi cation is useless.
notice for taxi passengers – what they can what amounts to less than 50p per day.
expect from the taxi trade and what the taxi
We are all aware that we could get diplomas by trade expect from them. See ya all next month dudes!
Royal Oak Taxi Centre present
a cheque to the LTFUC
T
he London Taxidriversʼ Fund for Underprivileged Children were delighted
to hear from John Anderson of the Royal Oak Taxi Centre that they
would be the benefi ciaries of an Easter Raffl e that he was organising.
On the day of the raffl e all the drivers there were pleasantly surprised to
see a gorgeous ʻBunnyʼ selling tickets for the raffl e and, unable to hide
their excitement at seeing this beautiful ʻBunnyʼ, they all dug deep into
their money bags and bought plenty of tickets. Then, not to be outdone by
his daughter Sophie, John appeared in a giant Easter Bunny costume and
conducted the raffl e. There were dozens of prizes that John had bought,
including giant Easter eggs.
After the raffl e, John presented LTFUC committee member Gerry Dunn
with a magnifi cent cheque for £640. During the time that John and his
family have run the Royal Oak they have raised hundreds of pounds for
On behalf of the Fund we would like to thank the ʻRoyal Oakʼ and all
the LTFUC and in appreciation were recently made Honorary Members of
the Fund, which John is very proud of.
the drivers who supported them in their Fund raising for Londonʼs
underprivileged and disabled children.
Our picture shows John drawing the winning tickets and Sophie holding
the box with the hundreds of tickets that John, Sophie and her brother
Raymond Levy
Darren had sold. (Press Offi cer)
40
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