...COUNCILS CASTLE POINT:
DRIVERS ENTITLEDTO REFUND FOR CRB CHECKS
Taxi drivers could be in line for extra cash from Castle Point Council after it overcharged cabbies for criminal record checks. The Local Government Ombudsman has criti- cised the authority for not fully compensating taxi drivers who over- paid their
fees. It
follows another report in February last year which ruled the coun- cil acted wrongly by effectively charging its licensed taxi drivers twice for the checks since 2003. She asked the authority to reimburse the com- plainant – a licensed taxi driver known as Mr H – and “take steps to remedy the injustice” caused to other drivers since 2004. But a new complaint from another licensed taxi driver, known as
Mr A, claims the coun- cil has taken some steps, but not fully reimbursed him and 24 other drivers for their losses. According to the Echo- News, the Ombudsman said: “Mr A and other drivers who have held a licence since 2004 have been caused an injustice due to the overcharging.
The
council has not provid- ed a full remedy for that injustice.” Angry cabbie Martin Jones, 51, claims many drivers have been “left hanging,” but they fear the council won’t pay out for its mistake. He said: “It had the oppor- tunity to rectify it when the first report was pub- lished, and a year and a half
Why?” The council says it has already implemented
later it hasn’t.
the recommendations in the previous report and waived the £44 cost for the next CRB check for each affect- ed driver. Licence fee reduction and absorb- ing some of the retail price index increase amounts to £27 per driver. It has also waived the disability awareness training which costs £40 and the DVLA check increase of £1.90. David Marchant, chief executive of Castle Point Council, said: “We have received the O m b u d s m a n ’ s response to this latest complaint and have a period of three months to respond. “Under those circum- stances, it would be inappropriate for us to comment this time.”
PETERBOROUGH: OUTOFAREACABBIES TRADE RAISESDOUBTS
Cab drivers who are not licensed in Peter- borough have been working in the city thanks to the Stockton syndrome. The coun- cil has seen some drivers get licences in Huntingdonshire Dis- trict Council (HDC) and then working in Peterborough. According to Peterbor- ough Today, at the council’s
licensing
committee last month regulatory officer Ian Robinson said: “We have had a lot of prob- lems with Hunting- donshire
licensed
drivers working here in Peterborough. There’s a loophole in the law which allows them to do that. “We’ve done a lot of work with Huntingdon- shire which
has
helped.” He added that two Huntingdon- shire licensed drivers applied for Peterbor-
ough licences in the previous week alone. Mr Robinson was speaking at month’s
last licensing
committee, which dis- cussed a new test to check drivers’ fitness to practice. A day-long course will be run by Peterbor- ough Regional College which will have to be passed before drivers are given permission to work. It will include lessons on producing receipts and giving change; the Highway Code;
road signs;
licensing conditions; and a reading and writ- ing test. The price will increase by £95 mean- ing it will cost £244 to become a cab driver in Peterborough. Resits will cost £25. Cllr Mohammed Jamil, who sits on the com- mittee, raised con- cerns that if people failed the test they
AUGUST 2012 PHTM
could just go to one of the neighbouring local authorities. Mr Robinson said: “You are right. If they can’t pass our reading and driving test they do go to Huntingdon. The difference with this new course is they have the support of the college to get help to pass.” But he added that the city council is working with neigh- bouring authorities. The council has also increased the vehicle age restriction, while HDC has increased the price of a licence, two factors which have helped
encourage
drivers back to Peter- borough. The committee unani- mously approved the plans which were also backed by Peterbor- ough Hackney Drivers’ Federation and the Peterborough Private Hire Driver Association.
not
WOLVERHAMPTON: DRIVERSACCUSECITYCOUNCILOFGREED
Taxis are flooding the streets of Wolver- hampton, filling ranks and clogging free parking
because of a council decision
spaces to
impose a limit on the number of licensed drivers, it has been claimed. Taxi drivers have accused the council of being “greedy” for rak- ing in licence fees regardless of the num- ber of cars already plying for trade in the city. They have called for a new limit
to be
imposed on the num- ber of taxis in the area. Chairman of
the
Wolverhampton Taxi Owners Association,
further at
Parminder Sekhon, said competition for customers was so high that drivers were being forced to work 18-hour shifts to bring in enough fares to make a living. “The council are just issuing too many licences," he said. “They can issue the licences and get their fee and don’t care whether there is a demand for it.
It’s
greed if you ask me." Licences can cost anywhere between £196
and £354,
depending on the age of the cab. Mr Sekhon said when he started driving in 1998, there was a limit of 65 cabs. This was
CONWY: PUPILTAXICASHCRISIS “SERIOUS RISK”
A top level council team will brainstorm ideas to find ways to stave off a £550,000 overspend in the budget for taking chil- dren to school. According to the North Wales Daily Post, using buses and taxis is costing Conwy County
Council
£10,000 a week too much - which will translate as more than half a million pounds’ deficit by the end of March unless some- thing drastic is done. This is on top of Conwy’s
£376,000
overspend on the home to school trans- port service in the last financial year, 2011- 12. Former Conwy County Council
leader Cllr
Ronnie Hughes said some “unpalatable” decisions must now be made about the future of the Home to School Transport Ser- vice. Possible solutions in an eleven-point action plan
for Conwy include paying par-
ents agreed mileage rates to take their chil- dren to school, or reviewing free trans- port for 16 to 19 year olds - currently discre- tionary. Other ideas are get- ting taxi operators to bid in “e-tendering” on a rate per mile rather than a daily rate, re- confirming whether routes with restricted pavements are haz- ardous, buying new vehicles or sharing them with the educa- tion department. Alternatively, transport to and from special needs units could be reviewed along with the use of taxis to take pupils home form behavioural units. Bus supervisors and school escorts could also come under the microscope. Arriva buses could be used more as could Conwy social care transport. Highways and proper- ty spokesman Cllr Mike Priestley told a principal overview and scrutiny committee meeting:
“We are
probably overspend- ing by £10,000 a week. We want
to fix it
urgently.” The meeting heard that, while Conwy
overspent
£376k in 2011-12, Denbighshire Home to School Service - moni- tored by the same, joint department - was within budget. Stuart Davies,
head of highways for Conwy and Den- bighshire,
several factors for the overspend. These include six Conwy county taxi firms going out of busi- ness from August to December 2011, and action by licensing staff to remove unsuit- able
vehicles or
operators. A report to the committee said: “The lack of competi- tion can lead to firms being able to com- mand higher prices.” The committee voted to ask its cabinet to set up an “urgent” task group with six mem- bers on it to thrash out the best solution to tackle the overspend.
PAGE 63
increased over the years to 165 - and the council removed the limit altogether five years ago. He said profits had plunged by around 50 per cent since then. He said he sympa- thised with visitors and traders who were frustrated at taxis tak- ing up space in free evening car parks, such as the one at the Chubb building - but said drivers had no choice. Councillor Ian Clay- more, vice-chairman of the licensing com- mittee, said the issue of taxi licensing was likely to be discussed at a meeting in the coming months.
joint blamed
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