SHROPSHIRE TAXI LICENCE
A West Midlands council has said it is being “inundated” with taxi licence applica- tions from drivers living outside their area. According to BBC News, Conservative- controlled Shropshire Council said applica- tions increased by 400 per cent over the last calendar year. More than 80 per cent of these came from applicants based out- side Shropshire, the council said. Cllr Steve Charmley said: “We are cracking down on that and revoking licences.” A hackney carriage vehicle licence in Shropshire costs £130 compared to £220 in Birmingham.
Cllr Charmley said: “Because our prices are low compared to the
FARES ANDFEES CALLS FOR FARE EXTRA
APPLICATIONS RISE BY 400 PER CENT surrounding
authorities we seem to be inundated with applications from out of county drivers.” He said a lot of appli- cations came from taxi drivers in the Birming- ham area who say they are operating in Bridgnorth. Patrick Nolan,
a
Shropshire based taxi licence consultant, said drivers were tak- ing advantage of a legal ruling in 2010 which ruled that licensed hackney car- riage drivers could operate as private hire drivers anywhere in the UK, regardless of where their licence was issued.
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Mr Nolan said he feared that if Shrop- shire Council rules that drivers
they
licence must pick up most of their business in the county it could end up hurting local drivers. “At lot of Birmingham based drivers will come back into Shrop- shire and it will hit trade for drivers who are born, bred and live in Shropshire,” he said. He said the current licence cost was “a bargain” and wanted to see it raised to £550. Shropshire Council’s Strategic Licensing Committee was due to look at the issue of taxi licences at a meeting on 17 January.
REJECTED IN ST ALBANS
A bid by taxi drivers in St Albans to increase their income by calling for fare extras to be introduced
was
thrown out by council- lors last month. The St Albans Review reports that members of St Albans District Council’s
licensing
regulatory committee came together with the St Albans and Harpen- den Taxi Association to consider the request. Cabbies say some bigger cars, such as seven seaters, should be able to charge extra for carrying two or more persons as the vehicle is more
expensive to run. However councillors on the committee dis- agreed and rejected their calls. The drivers had also asked for the outside of the cars to carry adverts for local businesses but this was also refused. Mudassar Yason, sec- retary of the drivers’ association,
said
although their calls for fare extras were reject- ed, the cabbies were glad some other issues were resolved. He added that an agree- ment was reached about advertisements inside the cabs and to help reduce carbon
emissions no cars below a 1.7 diesel engine would now be granted a licence. He said: “At the end of the day we could have gone for a fare increase but we understand that people say the last increase was extortion- ate and we have lost a few customers be- cause of this. “We are glad the inter- nal advertising was resolved but are dis- appointed that local businesses, who need support during this time of recession, will not have the opportu- nity to have adverts visible on the outside.”
FARE CUT IS UNFAIR CLAIM SWINDON TAXI DRIVERS
Taxi drivers say they are outraged at a deci- sion of private hire company to reduce its minimum fare. SN1 Cars has reduced its minimum fare for a half-mile journey from £3.80 to £3. Its drivers say it will lead to less money in their pockets and drivers from rival companies say it will
lead to
increased competition. According to This is Wiltshire, about 20 drivers from SN1 Cars, V Cars, United, Swin- don Airport Cars and hackney cab drivers have met to discuss the move, as well as other issues affecting their income. Nick Chambers, who has been a taxi driver for ten years, said: “Private hire drivers are outraged by a decision that has been made without any prior consultation with the drivers, to reduce the minimum fare to £3 from £3.80. “This will greatly reduce their incomes and it comes at the same time as radio rent was also put up
again with no consul- tation from drivers. “This, combined with increasing petrol and diesel costs, means drivers are working dangerously
hours and their family life and their health is suffering.” Other
including
Read, also raised con- cerns
about number of long
taxi drivers, Russell
the licences
handed out by Swin- don Council and the rent for radio, which averages at £90. “We are not asking for special treatment as we have all chosen this particular employ- ment,” he said. “What we are asking for is the same fair working conditions all people in this country supposedly have the right to. “That income is not put down by management with no consultation, those working hours are not raised without consultation,
those
staff levels are not allowed to get so high that the work level just isn’t there.” Martyn Newson, the
proprietor of SN1 Cars, said: “The minimum fare has been reduced for a journey which represents half a mile. “This was designed because we get OAPs really unable to walk. They have short jour- neys, perhaps 200 yards up the road, and I just think charging people doing this sort of journey £3.80 is exactly fair. “The amount of diesel for half a mile is next to nothing. We felt
it
would generate work for the drivers.” A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “The limit on the numbers of hackney carriage vehicles in Swindon was lifted in 2006 in line with Gov- ernment guidance. “As a result, we no longer have the power to limit the number of hackney carriage vehi- cle licences issued. “The council has no legal authority to refuse
to issue
licences to private hire drivers and private hire vehicles, providing the council’s licensing cri- teria is met.”
PHTM FEBRUARY 2012
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