NEVER MIND #theforgottenindustry –
You see Mr Shapps, you quote four towns/cities where drivers committed safeguarding crimes. We can quote every single locality in the UK where drivers have been attacked; these are just a few of the thousands of examples of attacks on drivers.
We have repeatedly asked for support, assistance, guidance, HELP…..and you come back with yet more negativity – writ- ten and public attacks and allegations against drivers. There are murders taking place, there are brutal attacks, there are robberies, every single day of the week, every single week of the month, every single month of the year.
WHAT ABOUT DRIVER SAFETY?
For example, figures obtained from South Yorkshire Police under FOI showed there were 557 reported assaults on taxi drivers across Sheffield, Doncaster, Rotherham and Barnsley between April 2013 and March 2018.
According to the Express and Star in December 2019, more than 800 attacks were carried out on taxi drivers in the West Midlands during 2018/19.
So Mr Shapps, why exactly is it that you seem focused on protecting the attackers? Support for CCTV, to which the Government response to recommendation 18 of the Task and Finish report was: “We will not fund CCTV in licensed vehicles, since such units are like a replacement tyre!”
On street and council/police premises CCTV is paid for by Government funding. We are talking about in-car CCTV - what exactly is the difference? This would further enhance street level CCTV by creating a mobile 24/7 network, enhancing public safety. And it might just prevent – as it has hundreds of times – these horrendous attacks on drivers.
In the interest of clarity, this is NOT about personal choice, or personal protection AT ALL since in most cases, drivers will not have access to the data; this is about simplifying investigations and ACTUAL PUBLIC SAFETY!
You stated that “as a result of consultation with various bodies”…..OK, well first came the Law Commission review – which as we all know amounted to nothing -which fol- lowed close on the heels of the latest “government Best Practice Guidance” in 2010, almost always dismissed by councils as “it is just guidance, we don’t need to follow it!!” Then came the Deregulation Act of 2015, which due to the very poor manner in which the relevant sections were written and implemented, has resulted in widespread corporate abuse and misinterpretation, and local authori- ties doing nothing to stop it whilst awaiting guidance from you!
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As a result of the repeated consultations, your decision is merely to quote existing practices…and make absolutely NO CHANGES to protect anyone, least of all the taxi and private hire industry.
LET’S MAKE A LIST, SHALL WE:
Face coverings: We asked you time and time again to include drivers and the travelling public in England and Wales in this mandatory requirement …
..YOU FAILED!
Separation screens: We asked you time and time again to issue clear guidance on this topic to provide some form of protection to drivers and the travelling public….your answer was “TfL have issued guidance and everyone else seems to be copying and pasting that!!”
Correct, they did, and then TfL ignored it themselves by entering into an agreement with Toyota for flimsy screens that simply slot into the rear pockets of Toyota seats, mean- ing of course that they are not suitable for any vehicle with seat covers, they will simply fall out when a drunk passen- ger pushes against them, and they have not been MIRA tested as per TfL requirements!
Furthermore, TfL run under their own act of legislation, completely different to any other council.
To nail this one down even further, MIRA have openly admit- ted three times over - once to the NPHTA as an association, once to an enquiry from a driver perspective, and even once to a licensing manager from a local authority outside London - that they are ONLY testing to TfL local conditions, NOT to any other local authority conditions, therefore no other council should be referring to MIRA at all, as it is not relevant to them……again….YOU FAILED!
There were 34 recommendations made as part of the Task and Finish report, most of which the Government, the Insti- tute of Licensing (IoL), the National Association of Licensing and Enforcement Officers (NALEO,) the Local Government Association (LGA) and most unions, associa- tions and trade related publications including PHTM and NPHTA were in favour. You have ignored almost all of it - again…YOU HAVE FAILED!
You were asked for funding for an industry that is losing around £8million per week; you said “get a loan or go on Uni- versal Credit.” Seriously? Drivers have been forced to buy vehicles on finance, and now you expect them to get a loan in order to pay the loan that they have already been forced into!!
Cyclists asked for money, the public purse was opened to the tune of millions. Bus companies asked for money….. £5.5 billion granted. We couldn’t even get the furlough scheme!! Yes, the furlough scheme is 80% of total income
AUGUST 2020
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