Obviously as far as I can see, the council would still have to do the sur- vey. But if the correct percentage had been provided from within the trade, that would be a major factor in not getting a survey result which might upset things. But what about creeping? Ah well... A third of the 99 would be another 33 vehicles. If the trade did not provide any of those vehicles, 33 more vehicles would come on, bringing the total to 132 hackneys. And a third of that is no longer 33; it is now 44. So on comes another 11 vehi- cles, taking the 132 to 143 – which divided by three equals 48. So on come three more wheelchair accessibles.... and so on and so on. Creep creep creep. And it won’t stop creeping until the number of vehi- cles doubles. Eh? you might say. Well, yes... if you divide 99 by two you get 49.5. If you add 49.5 onto 99 and then divide that by three, you get 49.5 which is a third.
OK – so why am I dividing 99 by two? Two happens to be the figure you need to use in this particular equation to end up with a 33 per cent result. Depending on the percentage chosen by the Government, other figures apply. So if it’s 25 per cent of the fleet, and you’ve got 100 vehi- cles (and here I have to say that in each of these cases I am assuming that there are no wheelchair accessible vehicles in the area, and incum- bent proprietors decide not to invest) you put on an extra 25; the figure changes again and goes up to 131, then changes again, gets to 133 and at that point you get to 25 per cent. In other words, the fleet has gone up by a third. If the prescribed per- centage is 50 per cent of the fleet, your fleet will have to double. For example, 200 cars plus 50 per cent gives a total of 300. 50 per cent of that is 150, so you need an extra 50 cars, which brings you up to 350. It keeps carrying on, adding the new numbers and dividing by two to get your 50 per cent... and slowly but surely you will come to the reali- sation that the fleet will have to double – yes, double – to get 50 per cent.
Seventy five per cent is a bit more difficult to work out, but your fleet would increase by 133 per cent to get to the result. Now obviously if the trade is putting on their own vehicles, the per- centages alter all the time. All I am saying is that functionality of what is going to occur is for the first time very much controllable by the peo- ple who are already in the trade. And if you miss out on the opportunity, you’ve only got yourself to blame really.
As I have said, 21 of the councils that are still restricting numbers are already all-wheelchair accessible. But what about the just over 300 councils that don’t control numbers? What’s going to happen to them? It follows from what we have seen in this Amendment that the Govern- ment isn’t just going to target those councils which are still regulated. They are clearly going to set percentages for the whole of the country – a target to be achieved. Remember that the original Disability Dis- crimination Act envisaged every hackney carriage being wheelchair accessible. That never happened; nor, as I have said in this paper many times before, was it ever likely to happen.
But by setting percentage targets, councils will for the first time have a duty imposed upon them to comply; and obviously the trade will also have to comply. Perhaps it is at this point that the stampede off to become private hire drivers will kick in.
Of course we still don’t know whether December’s baronesses’ barmy amendments to the Equality Bill have been passed or not. So as yet there may be nowhere to go. There still has to be consultation; the Department for Transport is still going out on its roadshows to see what is needed. A lot of work still needs to be done, as indeed it was need- ed when the DDA came in. I cannot see that we are going to wait 14 years for a no-eventer; this is going to move a lot quicker. Just one more thought for those of you who are still scratching their heads. Remember the European Ministers’ report from March 2007? They came down in favour of mixed fleets. They came down in favour of mixed fleets because, for the first time, somebody listened to the ambulant disabled passengers who don’t like your WAVs. So maybe there is an opportunity, with the Government percentage-ising, for some areas to move back from all-wheelchair accessibles and have mixed fleets of taxis.
Now there’s a thought for the future. It might not be easy to achieve, but there are some examples in Scotland where councils are already imposing a “sunset clause”, whereby those drivers over 60 who may well not be fit enough to push passengers up ramps, and may at their age not be able to get finance for expensive vehicles, are given an opportunity to remain in saloon cars. That also suggests that when a driver gets to 60, perhaps he could go back to a saloon car. Well worth a thought when the consultation papers come out. Don’t worry – we will let you know.
Until then, sayonara.
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