STOKE-ON-TRENT: 12-YEAR AGE LIMIT FOR TAXIS
Four hundred of the oldest and most pol- luting taxis will be taken off Stoke-on- Trent’s roads – if a new age limit is introduced. According to the Stoke Sentinel, Stoke-on-Trent City Council scrapped its previous age limit in 2016, but officials now want to reintro- duce the rule. Under the proposed policy, the seven- year age limit for new taxis will be removed, as will the requirement for bi- annual MoT tests after ten years. But no licence will be renewed once a car is 12 years old. Another proposed
change to licensing policy would allow HC drivers to use vehicles with rear access for wheel- chairs. The current rule requires hack- neys to be wheel- chair accessible from the side, which makes them larger, more expensive and more polluting than typical saloon cars. Changing the rule would give drivers the option of buying cheaper vehicles, without compromis- ing passenger safety. The council is also proposing to change driver training re- quirements, in res- ponse to concerns raised by the trade. Drivers are currently
ROUND THE COUNCILS BRIGHTON:
TAXI DRIVERS CAN STILL TAKE CASH
required to pass the BTEC level 2 in ‘Introduction to the Role of Professional Taxi and Private Hire Driver’ course prior to making their application for a licence.
Under the new poli- cy, this requirement would be replaced with a one-day driv- er training course, including a local knowledge test and safeguarding train- ing. Drivers will also be required to under- take a safeguarding refresher course every three years. The consultation on the new licensing policy will run from March 9 to May 29.
Cabbies will be allowed to insist on being paid fares in cash in Brighton and Hove after the rules were discussed by councillors. Pressure is growing for taxi and private hire drivers to take card or app pay- ments, with many already doing so. But the Argus re- ports that coun- cillors said that poor phone and Wi-Fi signals in parts of the area meant that it was not the right time to insist on the change. Local policy was de-
bated by Brighton and Hove City Coun- cil’s Licensing Com- mittee at Hove Town Hall on 12 March. Members were con- cerned that some people did not have ready access to cash. The move to make it compulsory for cab- bies to accept card payments was sug- gested by members of the Independent Drivers Brighton & Hove (IDB&H) group. But opposition came from other IDB&H members as well as the Sudan- ese Taxi Forum, United Taxi Drivers
Association, City Cabs, Radio Cabs, Streamline, Unite and the GMB. GMB taxi trade rep Andrew Peters wel- comed the decision on behalf of his members. He said: “While we always encourage drivers to have card readers, we believe the council has made the right decision to not make these com- pulsory. Also we hope that the mobile network in the city will improve to enable guaranteed connections for the card readers.”
PERTH & KINROSS TOUGH TESTS HITTING HOME
Councillors have stepped up mea- sures to ensure new Perth and Kinross taxi drivers know exactly where they are going and the rules of the road. The Daily Record reports that in Jan- uary 2019, a report was submitted and approved by the licensing committee which resulted in the introduction of the taxi/private
hire
driver knowledge test. The committee ag- reed to introduce the test for both renewals and new applications but ag- reed it would be introduced for new applications only ini- tially. This was to allow the licensing man- ager to monitor staff time and resources
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required to under- take the knowledge test. On Thursday Febru- ary 20 the com- mittee approved a motion that any licence holder brought before the committee must then take part or all of the test depen- dent on their reasons for being brought before the committee. The taxi/private hire driver’s knowledge test comprises 60 questions divided into six sections with questions relat- ing to public buildings and local landmarks; street names; routes; knowledge of the Highway Code; the conditions of the licence, and arith- metical and general questions.
Applicants need to answer 51 questions correctly to pass but if a driver scores between 45 and 51, rather than resit the entire test they are given the chance to resit the parts where they failed to ach- ieve the required score. After three failed attempts the application is deem- ed to be voluntarily withdrawn and no refund is given. Since the test was launched, PKC has received 62 applica- tions with 85 per cent passing so far. Out of the 62 appli- cations, 23 passed first time, 17 second time, 12 are awaiting resits and eight have voluntarily with- drawn after either not turning up or failing their third attempt.
APRIL 2020
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