ROUND THE COUNCILS NEWCASTLE:
BLACK & WHITE TAXIS PUT ON HOLD
Plans to rebrand Newcastle’s taxis in black and white have been put on hold for now. Council bosses have paused their proposals to require the city’s hackney carriage drivers to deck out their vehicles in the famous colours of Newcastle United. The idea was unveiled in June and was designed to give licensed taxis a “distinctive” look that could help to cut crime, amid concerns that criminals have been posing as cab drivers to target vulnerable victims. But the scheme sparked anger among drivers, who staged a protest outside Newcastle Civic Centre and claimed that the cost of fitting white vinyl wraps around their bonnets would become a “huge burden”. The controversial new taxi policy was due to get the final seal of approval at a Newcastle City Council meeting on Wednesday night, 12 July, but was pulled from the agenda just a few hours before. A council spokesperson confirmed the delay was to allow for further talks with the GMB union and drivers. They said: “Taxis play an important role in keeping our city moving and many people in our communities rely upon them. Everyone who uses a hackney carriage or private hire vehicle in Newcastle should feel safe doing so and that’s exactly what these new measures set out to achieve. “It’s clear there has been some misunderstanding about the purpose of the policy and the positive impact this will have for public safety. “We have held productive conversations with the GMB and these will continue. The GMB are clear they are not asking their members to object to the policy. “Over the summer we’d like to continue that engagement with GMB and the trade to clarify the purpose of the policy. The item for discussion will be deferred until the next council meeting to allow these conversations to take place.” Dozens of hackney carriage drivers demonstrated outside the civic centre when the taxi policy was discussed by the council’s cabinet last month. While the council is planning to give a £100 grant to each of the 597 licensed hackney
carriage drivers in
Newcastle to help with the cost of fitting the white wrapping, it was feared that drivers would be forced to pay for them to be replaced regularly once they get dirty or damaged. Drivers also told the Local Democracy Reporting Service about concerns that criminals would still be
PHTM AUGUST 2023
able to easily copy the new taxi design, passengers could mistakenly think that drivers had been forced to replace their bonnet after being involved in a crash, and that the black and white livery would deter non- Newcastle fans. A total 96% of drivers who responded to a council consultation on the plan expressed their opposition to the white bonnets. But the new design had been praised by the city’s street pastors, nightclub door supervisors, and organisations trying to prevent violence against women. The black and white branding would only be required on hackney carriages and not for private hire vehicles. Under the proposed new policy, private hire vehicles would have to be adorned with a green council plate and display the operator’s details on the back passenger doors.
EASTLEIGH: PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLE SIGNAGE SURVEY
Eastleigh Borough Council is currently consulting on private hire signage. In November 2021, a policy was adopted that requires signage on PHVs to display the private hire operator’s details on the front doors and an Eastleigh BC identification sticker on the rear doors. The council will use the information from the con- sultation to form an overall view of the importance of private hire vehicle signage detailing the operator name and contact information, enabling the council to provide the decision makers with up-to-date views of the taxi and private hire trade, residents and interested parties before any potential policy changes are considered or adopted. The survey which closes on 30 September 2023 and can be accessed here:
https://tinyurl.com/3mdnxumk NPHTA comment: in light of recent changes at both Oldham and Southampton following our campaigns on vehicle livery, and the effects that has on vehicles being targeted as well as driver and passenger safety; Eastleigh council has now launched a consultation on the same subject. Eastleigh’s vehicle signage policy was brought in some 20 months ago. Many cars were branded school transport only and then unable to work for operators in evenings and at weekends. This meant the collapse of some firms and more and more companies from out of the area coming in the region to work.
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