DEREG DILEMMA
POOLE DRIVERS CONCERNED BY DEREGULATION PLANS
Taxi and private hire drivers fearful for their jobs turned out in force to express their feell- ngs to Poole Council about deregulation. The Law Commission is recommending that licensing authorities should continue to be allowed to limit taxi numbers. According to the Bournemouth Daily Echo, Borough of Poole, which issues a new hackney carriage plate to a brand new wheelchair accessible vehicle each year, responded to a previ- ous proposal that it might lose its powers to limit numbers by supporting a transi- tional period. However the taxi trade expressed concern that this response rep- resented a change in
Poole’s policy and around 40 drivers attended a licensing committee meeting. “We were very disap- pointed with Poole Council for not con- sulting us,” said Kevin Diffey, chairman of Poole Radio Cabs, one of three represen- tatives who addressed the committee. “We are obviously happy they are not going to deregulate, at least
for the time
being,” he said. There are 81 taxis in the bor- ough and 200 private hire cars and he said if there was no regula- tion all of these could put a taxi sign on the roof and attempt to use the taxi ranks. “It would be an absolute nightmare,” he said. The council has said if there was to be any
change in its policy of managed
growth
there would be full consultation with the taxi and private hire trade. Cllr Xena Dion, cabinet portfolio holder, said they had responded to government consulta- tion on limiting the number of hackney carriages. “However, this
during consultation
process, we have not made any amend- ments to our current policy of managed growth of hackney carriage numbers. “We will be reviewing the draft Bill when it is available at the end of this year and will fully consult with key stakeholders on any proposals to change our policy in the future.”
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LUTON CABBIES’ FEARS SUBSIDE AS CAP REMAINS ON TAXI LICENCES
Tensions between pri- vate hire and hackney carriage drivers are causing problems in an otherwise “excellent” transport service in Luton, a report found. The report was dis- cussed at a meeting of the council’s adminis- tration and regulation committee on June 25, when it decided the limit on the number of hackney
carriages
should remain. The report by inde- pendent traffic con- sultants found there is currently no unmet demand for cabs in Luton. The
report said:
“Those who respond- ed to questionnaires showed a long average time working in the industry; 14 years, and worked a six-day, 45- hour week. There was a strong feeling that 76 per cent would leave the trade if the limit on licences was removed, whereas five per cent would increase their hours to try to maintain their living.” There are currently 167 hackney carriages in Luton - the maxi- mum - and 822 PHVs. The council acknowl- edges that recorded numbers of PHVs and drivers ‘may not have
been accurate prior to 2013’, but there has been a drop in PHV numbers in the last year, from 1,110 to 822, as one large com- pany ceased trading and not all its vehicles were taken up by other owners. Numbers of hackney carriage vehi- cles have doubled since 2004. A police spokesper- son said: “The town is awash with PHVs and many wait for fares which are not booked. “This causes friction with the hackney car- riages whose rank is on the opposite side of the same road.”
WORCESTER TAXI DRIVER NUMBERS FACING CAP
A major new survey will take place to see if the first ever cap can be put on Worcester’s taxis - as drivers admitted their num- bers are out of control. Furious hackney car- riage drivers have blamed Worcester City Council for allowing their numbers to surge nearly 200 per cent in a decade, and are ready to support a groundbreaking limit. It
follows years of
steady rises which means the overall num- ber of taxis went from 102 in 2001 to today’s record high of 288. Now,
an
over time or even a cap. Crucially, it would also help the city council if any prospective taxi driver was to attempt legal action for being refused a licence. Mohammed Ali, from Worcester Taxi Driv- ers’ Association, told Worcester
News: unmet
demand survey is set to be independently commissioned at a cost of around £9,000. The last time the same survey was done was 12 years ago, when consultants
said
Worcester was “fairly close” to all demand being met at 100-odd taxis. If the new survey rec- ommends the current figure is too big, it could pave the way for new, hard-hitting poli- cies to bring it down
“There are too many taxis, we all know that; they are clogging up the streets and caus- ing chaos. “We’ve got a real prob- lem and it’s the council that has caused this mess over a period of many years. “I know people want to make a living but the current number is too high so we are saying, we are willing to pay for the survey and want it done.” He also said he want- ed to see a temporary ban on any new driv- ers until the survey takes place, but that prospect is unlikely because of the legal ramifications. Talks were due to take place by the end of July between the WTDA and council offi-
cers about formally commissioning the survey. Several private firms do unmet demand sur- veys, and the costs can
vary wildly,
although current esti- mates are £9,000 to £10,000. Cllr Paul Denham, chairman of the licens- ing committee, said: “If we can get evi- dence there is no unmet demand from an independent organ- isation, we would have sufficient evidence to control numbers. “There is a misunder- standing from certain elements of the trade that
the council is
making money, but it isn’t - the licensing department is actually run at a loss. “In line with the law - we can’t refuse a new driver a licence with- out doing this survey.”
Mmmm...Something about closing the sta- ble door after the horse has bolted, springs to mind. Well, they’re only missing 12 years and three surveys - and a decimated local indus- try is the result. - Ed.
PHTM AUGUST 2013
BASED ON WINDOWS TO ANDROID UPGRADE
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