ROUND THE COUNCILS WOLVERHAMPTON: SAFETY ALARMS & GUIDES FOR DRIVERS
Wolverhampton council is helping to protect licensed drivers by providing personal safety alarms in every vehicle and safety guides for every driver. The alarms, part of a national police security initiative, have a powerful 140 decibel siren and will help drivers raise the alarm if they feel threatened or unsafe. The alarms will be rolled out across the council’s fleet of 20,000 licensed vehicles as drivers attend their annual inspections. The authority’s regulatory committee has also approved the option of installing driver safety enclosures which separate drivers from passengers. In addition, the council has worked in partnership with West Midlands Police to produce a ‘Safety Tips for Taxi and Private Hire Drivers’ guide. The guide gives helpful information about subjects such as vehicle condition, accepting and collecting passengers, best ways to communicate and what to do if a problem arises. Cllr Phil Page, chair of Wolverhampton Council’s statutory licensing and regulatory committee, said: “We constantly review driver and passenger safety and ways this can be improved. Providing personal alarms is a great initiative to reassure and protect our drivers. I am also pleased that we have worked with West Midlands Police to develop a helpful guide full of useful pointers to make journeys safer and more comfortable for everyone.” The driver safety advice guide is free and available to download at
wolverhampton.gov.uk/licences/taxi- licences.
BLACKBURN w DARWEN: AGE LIMIT ON WAV TAXIS RELAXED
Blackburn with Darwen BC is to ease its MoT testing regime for taxis and PHVs. Currently cabs are checked for road worthiness every 12 months until they are three years old. Then they are safety tested every six months. In future the 12-month testing frequency will apply until the vehicles are five years old. And cabs over that limit which pass the safety check first time will be eligible for an eight month licence, instead of the standard six month one. The move has been welcomed by Conservative councillor and taxi driver Altaf ‘Tiger’ Patel who has
PHTM APRIL 2023
led a campaign against the high testing charges and the council’s refusal to outsource to private garages rather than at the council’s Davyfield Depot. A report instigating the new regime by borough environment boss Cllr Jim Smith says: “Based on current fleet data, the extension of the twelve-month licences would capture circa 40 vehicles and see a loss of revenue in licensing fees and testing fees of £6,500. “The additional two months on vehicle licences will defer the income from vehicle renewals for two months.” Audley and Queens Park ward’s Cllr Patel said: “This is good news but the cost of the tests is still very high.”
WILTSHIRE: COUNCIL TO EMPLOY SEND DRIVERS
Wiltshire Council is set to buy up more taxis to take children with special educational needs to schools. The authority has reportedly been suffering a shortage of vehicles to transport SEND pupils since November last year. Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “Unfortunately there are currently insufficient taxi drivers to meet all of our SEND home-to-school transport commitments. To address this, we are providing additional vehicles and employing drivers directly to operate them. This will enable us to provide our statutory duty to provide free home-to-school transport for those who are entitled.” Head of Passenger Transport, Jason Salter, was recorded in the minutes of a meeting of Wiltshire Council in December as saying: “There were currently 5-6 students without transport to education settings due to a lack of drivers/licensed vehicles. Also some parents received a rate of pay to transport their own children to school who are entitled to free transport.” Wiltshire Council has been looking at alternative options, such as buying larger vehicles to carry more passengers and reduce the need for smaller taxis. On December 5 the now-former cabinet member for transport Cllr Dr Mark McClelland said in a statement: “We have had to put temporary arrangements in place such as doubling up on runs, reduced pupil timetables or paying parents to take them. “There was a shortage of taxi drivers to fulfil our SEND school contracts before Covid. The pandemic hit the taxi industry very hard, and all local authorities have seen reducing driver numbers.” A recruitment campaign has been held alongside local taxi firms to try and boost numbers.
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