..THE NPHTA AT WORK.. THERE’S NOT A LOT GOING ON THEN…
The NPHTA has been extremely busy during recent weeks regarding the Covid situation for obvious reasons, with David Lawrie and the board members across the UK including: • Des Broster • Nadeem Hussain • Peter Kirkham • Abdul Khayal • Sham Raja • Steven Toy • Lee Ward • Donna Short - yes she is still here… • Karen Barlow, of membership and Facebook fame, now NPHTA Company Secretary
We have all been working on your behalf to support our indus- try and all of you, our members, past present and future. This includes PH operators, PH drivers, hackney carriage drivers and local associations.
First and foremost to make perfectly clear here, the DfT and its team have been extremely supportive of our industry, our issues, our frustrations, and our worries; they have been work- ing tirelessly with us and feel equally frustrated by the fact that they have also been unable to achieve answers and results as fast as they would like for us. The sheer volume of meetings that it’s arranged and taken part in, the number of reports submitted, the efforts taken by the whole team has been noth- ing less than awe inspiring and applaudable.
We’ve been involved in many virtual meetings on various platforms almost daily; our diaries are full to bursting with various government bodies, agencies, departments and others, which include:
• Department for Transport (DfT) • HMRC • Covid research groups • Test track and trace • The Transport Research Laboratories (TRL) • BBC television and radio • Local press and radio broadcasts • Rail services for follow on transport in the event of rail services issues such as breakdowns or cancelled services
• Farmers markets, supermarkets, retail outlets, food banks, pharmacies, doctors’ surgeries etc for delivery services
• Various local authorities across the whole of the UK • Consultations • Local associations • Institute of Licensing (IoL) • Local Government Association (LGA) • National Association of Licensing Enforcement Officers (NALEO)
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• Government bodies regarding provision of funding, PPE supplies, Covid protection screen guidance, clearing up existing guidance and simplifying approaches.
• Continuing to offer support and assistance with applica- tions, revocations, suspensions and other direct driver or operator related issues.
YOU MUST GET INVOLVED
All around the UK almost every local authority is either ending, currently in, or about to launch consultations on the new Statutory Guidance issued by Grant Shapps.
• Durham consultation ended on Sunday 29th November • Manchester consultation on CAZs and Minimum Licensing standards ended early December
• TfL is hoping to launch a consultation early to mid-January. • Cambridge, South Cambridge, Maidstone, Newcastle, the list goes on… we’re getting stuck into each and every consulta- tion with an eagle eye and a red pen to make our sugges- tions known to those who will listen.
This is going to affect each and every one of you, and whilst we understand your frustration, anger, sense of timing, worry and concern over the upcoming increased costs - and we have echoed those concerns to the DfT, IoL, NALEO and everyone else who will listen - the fact remains that this is new Statutory Guidance that has been announced, and must be consulted on with each licensing district.
You may all understandably believe that these consultations are nothing more than a box-ticking exercise, but the fact is that due to the sheer lack of responses received to these consultations, the only conclusion that can be reached is that there are no concerns or issues from trade members; this makes it a box-ticking exercise.
So if you want your concerns to be heard, if you want to express how you cannot afford the proposed changes, or make suggestions on how to reach the target a different or more affordable way, then PLEASE, speak up.
To put it into a catchphrase: “SPEAK UP OR PAY UP” BACK TO SOME GOOD NEWS
We are delighted to be able to state that we are now starting to see results, which include the very latest, clearer guidance below from the DfT for drivers and passengers making the message clear; this includes signage that can be printed off and displayed:
DECEMBER 2020
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