DEREG DILEMMA
NEATH PORT TALBOT COUNCIL SET TO REFUSE CALL TO BLOCK NEW LICENCES
A plea by struggling taxi drivers for help to make ends meet looks set to be rejected. Cabbies in Neath Port Talbot and the Swansea Valley have called for a moratorium on any new licences being issued. But Neath Port Talbot Council officers are arguing there is very lit- tle support for such a move. Two years ago the Neath Port Talbot Pro- prietors’ Association went to the council to ask for the ban. The licensing committee subsequently agreed to carry out an unmet demand survey, split- ting the £15,000 cost with proprietors. But then the council said it did not have the money available be- cause of its £13 million
budget crisis. That meant any survey would have to be wholly funded by the proprietors.
As a result it then sur- veyed them to find out whether they were in favour of the survey. At a meeting last month, councillors were told only 43 of the 151 proprietors res- ponded, and of these only 18 wanted it. Head of legal and democratic services David Michael said: “The low response rate, as well as the result of the survey, indicate there is no great support for a demand survey. “It is also significant that the 25 proprietors who opposed the sur- vey own in the region of 70 vehicles, where-
as the 18 supporting the survey own 20 vehicles.”
Mr Michael will recom- mend the council should maintain the status quo and not impose any restric- tions on the number of licences issued. Association secretary Bob Hoyles said he was dismayed to hear the council was now expected to refuse to carry out a survey. “The situation is get- ting worse,” he told the South Wales Evening Post. “There is no trade about because there is no demand. It’s a dreadful time. “It’s the self-employed owner-drivers who are really being hit hard. It’s their sole source of income and there is just no money about.”
ST ALBANS TAXI DRIVERS CALL FOR LIMIT ON LICENSED DRIVERS
Taxi drivers in St Albans claim the num- ber of hackney carriage licences which are handed out should be regulated to help boost their income and ease crowding on the city centre ranks.
The St Albans and Harpenden Taxi Asso- ciation has called on St Albans District Council to put a cap on the number of licences granted. Between 1995 and 1999 the council restricted the number of hackney carriage licences it issued. At the time the limit was lifted just 127 licensed taxis operat- ed in St Albans and Harpenden. As of Feb- ruary this year, there were 259 licensed
drivers on the roads. The council’s licens- ing and regulatory committee is to con- sider the calls made by the taxi association. But it has recommend- ed the committee maintains its policy to not impose a limit. The licensing team has said it will launch a consultation over additional ranks in St Albans and Harpen- den to address the issue of overcrowding. It is proposed ranks could be provided outside Havana night- club, in Victoria Street, for approximately six vehicles. It would be operational between 9pm and 3am, Thurs- day to Friday.
Other ranks are pro- posed in the two loading bays opposite
the Cross Keys public house and outside HSBC bank, to be operated between 6.30pm to 7.30am Monday to Sunday. Mudassar Yasin, sec- retary of the taxi association, told the Watford Observer: “The additional ranks will only be in the evenings on week- ends, so it won’t change what happens during the day. Mr Yasin said the problem of private hire drivers illegally plying for trade in other areas of the town, including outside Havana night- club, has always been an issue.
He said it will help if the additional ranks are introduced, to give more trade to the hack- ney carriage drivers.
WATFORD CABBIES RENEW CALL TO CAP NUMBER OF TAXI DRIVERS
Specialist Finance Broker for the Taxi and Private Hire Industry
DO YOU HAVE A GOOD CREDIT RECORD, BUT YOUR BANK IS LETTING YOU DOWN?
DO YOU OWN A FLEET AND REQUIRE FINANCE FOR NEWER VEHICLES?
IF SO, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US
Sceptre Finance Ltd Hallmark House, Downham Rd, Ramsden Heath, Essex CM11 1PU
01268 799541
www.sceptrefinance.co.uk info@sceptrefinance.co.uk fax: 01702 414884
Reg Office: Cumberland House, 24-28 Baxter Ave, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6HZ Company No. 4247886. Regulated by the Office of Fair Trading No. 509617
PAGE 22
Taxi drivers have renewed their plea for a reduction in the amount of operating licences granted by Watford Borough Council. The Watford Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Association blames much of its members’ ills on a decision by the council in 2006 to scrap its limit on licences.
The association now says the time has come to re-impose a limit on numbers, allowing a smaller pool of drivers to make a better living. Such a reduction, it adds, would also improve chronic traffic congestion at various hot-spots around Wat- ford.
In a letter to the coun- cil, association chair- man Shafiq Ahmed told the the Watford Observer: “There is an assumption that more taxis leads to a better service. We believe
such assumptions dis- regard any proper assessment of quality. We do not believe that Watford Council would be capping numbers for the sake of protec- tionism but rather to give the best possible service to the con- sumer.” For many years the council, in line with many other local authorities, limited its licences. In 2006, when delimitation occurred, just 82 hackney car- riages were in use. Some 345 licences were issued the follow- ing year. This number has since fallen (287 were on the road in March) but, say drivers, not by enough for them to make a living. Watford Borough Council, however, has long argued that a free market will regulate itself efficiently and provide a better serv- ice to customers. Ahead of a meeting of
its licensing commit- tee on Wednesday, June 29, it reiterated its views and recom- mended to councillors that they reject a pro- posal to re-introduce a cap on licences. A council report read: “The council does not have the power to remove or revoke existing licences in order to achieve an acceptable level, assuming an accept- able level can be agreed upon.
“The association has also requested a sur- vey to measure the true demand for taxi services among the public.”
Mmm...Jeffrey Lieb, Licensing Manager at Watford Borough council, has confirmed to the NPHA that a sur- vey is to be under- taken in September, with the result to be reported to Committee by December 2011/ January 2012. - Ed
PHTM AUGUST 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88
