PROTEST PLIGHT
HUNDREDS RALLY AS CAMBRIDGE CABBIES PROTEST NEW CCTV RULES
Hundreds of cabbies took part in a rally in protest over mandatory CCTV in taxis. Drivers gathered outside South Cambridgeshire DC’s headquarterson March 15, to protest the measures. Members of the Cambridge Taxi Driver Association held placards and chanted: “No More CCTV”. The move
to make the cameras
compulsory has sparked concerns about infringement of privacy, lack of consultation and costs. Cabbie Nasir Uddin said: “We are protesting here today because they should protect our privacy in a working environment. There’s a cost element too - the amount of money to install CCTV. We also believe there’s been inadequate consultation, we think they should postpone this policy.” Further protests were planned for 20 and 21 March, however, at a meeting of the licensing committee on Monday March 20, implementation of the policy was postponed until September 1, due to delays by the authority in releasing the CCTV specification to taxi licence holders. At the meeting, aside from the cost and privacy issues, drivers also raised concerns over whether there was a need for CCTV. One driver told councillors there were taxi drivers in the city who were already using foodbanks and said they would not be able to afford the cost of the new cameras. Drivers also highlighted the increased cost faced by those who drove wheelchair accessible taxis due to the need for more cameras, which the drivers said could cost around £1,500.
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Ahmed Karaahmed, chairman of Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, said: “Councils create policies if there is a real need for them. Is there a real need for mandatory cameras in Cambridge? “In 2021 and 2022 Cambridge was chosen to be the safest place in the UK. Cambridge City Council and the police both agree that incidents inside licensed vehicles in Cambridge are minimal. If this is the case what is the reason behind this mandatory CCTV policy? Why are you asking the trade to pay nearly £1million to implement it? By doing this you will send some of our drivers to the foodbanks.” Mr Karaahmed said he had contacted some of the camera suppliers, who had told him that the cameras could not be installed in some EVs. He added that he had also been told having the CCTV cameras fitted would invalidate the warranty of a new car. He said: “The only reasonable solution out of this seems to be optional CCTV cameras for taxi drivers and let the drivers decide whether they need CCTV in their vehicles. Or create a database and mandate CCTV to those drivers who receive [a certain amount] of complaints from the public which occurred inside the vehicle.”
Mr Karaahmed added that if the city council went ahead with the plans, then the drivers would take legal action. He said they did not want to do this, but would if “they have no other choice”. Yvonne O’Donnell, the
environmental health manager at the city council, said the policy had been reviewed in January 2022 and was “fit for purpose as of today”. She said the city council had followed all legal processes and the statutory guidance. Ms O’Donnell said they
had
checked whether CCTV was compatible with EVs and had been assured it was. However,
she
recognised the issue with Tesla and said officers would ask specifically if CCTV in Tesla would be possible. Ms O’Donnell said she was not aware of any potential warranty issue that was raised by the drivers, but would look into it. At Monday’s meeting the committee heard that officers had looked into whether there were any funding opportunities from organisations to help with the cost of the CCTV, but had found there were no options available. Ms O’Donnell said some companies who provide the cameras did offer payment plans, and said the drivers could “shop around”, to see what options were available. The committee also agreed a change to its policy to allow taxis with CCTV installed to be exempt from the tinted window requirements.
APRIL 2023 PHTM
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