ROUND THE COUNCILS NEWCASTLE:
MANCHESTER: NEW DRESS CODE TO BE INTRODUCED
New dress code rules for HC and PHV drivers are being considered. According to the Manchester Evening News, bosses at Manchester City Council want to cre- ate a ‘positive im- age’ and reduce com- plaints. New documents say the council will stop short of imposing a specific uniform, but it has released a list of ‘unacceptable’ examples, including: • Dirty clothing with holes, rips or other damage
• Words or graphics on clothing that is offensive
• Sportswear or beachwear
• Sandals/footwear with no heel straps or flip flops
• Hoodies/clothing that may obscure the driver’s vision or identity
The documents also lay out proposed ‘minimum stan- dards’ for male and female drivers. “Males should wear trousers and a shirt with short/long sleeves. Knee-length tailored shorts are acceptable,” it says. “Females should wear trousers, or a knee length skirt or dress, and a shirt/ blouse with short/ long sleeves. Knee- length tailored shorts are also acceptable.” Exceptions related
to faith or disability for both genders are allowed. The plans have been revealed in docu- ments which went before a licensing meeting on 20 Jan. They come as part of wider plans to take a look at pri- vate hire licensing conditions. These include ‘re- freshed licence con- ditions’ which also could include prohi- bitions on vaping, conducting ‘lengthy telephone conversa- tions’ whilst driving passengers or ‘using any hand-held de- vice whilst driving or allow themselves to be distracted in any other way’.
DRIVERS WORRY OVER NEW CHARGES
Cash-strapped taxi drivers face new council charges - including £43 to change the colour of their cab. The Stoke Sentinel reports that New- castle Borough Council is to launch a 28-day consulta-
tion over the pro- posed new charges. They also include a £25 ‘spot check’ fee, a £38 charge to change a driver’s name and address, and £7 for a replace- ment internal plate. Now cabbies fear being hit with huge
bills if the charges are approved. Council environ- mental health boss Nesta Barker says the proposal sees some costs go down, some stay the same and some in- crease. The charges are cost-neutral.
SALISBURY: COUNCIL SUPPORTS TARIFF CHANGE
Civic chiefs have shown their support for updating taxi tariffs in Salisbury, after “getting ripped off by unscrupulous drivers” - which was how the current sys- tem was described. According to the Salisbury Journal, councillors unani- mously agreed to back suggested tar- iff changes, in which the countywide five-
tier system will instead be split into three in Salisbury, and pricier tiers four and five will be abol- ished.
It has now been sug- gested that hackney carriages use tariff one between 6am and 11pm, tariff two between 11pm and 6am, as well as all day on Sundays and on Boxing Day, and tariff three on
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day only. All councillors voted to support the latest proposal.
Cllr Hoque suggest- ed all taxis should offer card payment to customers. The views of Salis- bury City Council were forwarded to Wiltshire Council’s Licensing Commit- tee to be discussed on January 27.
GUERNSEY: FARE RISE OF OVER 3% PROPOSED
Taxi drivers in Guernsey have wel- comed a ‘well- overdue’ proposed taxi fare increase. The Guernsey Taxi Federation presi- dent Leon Gallienne said he was pleased to see proposals put through by Environ- ment and Infra- structure for an increase to taxi fares of 3.09% to reflect increasing costs. Over the 12-month period ending 30 June 2019, operat- ing costs increased by a total of 2.78%,
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with fuel increasing by 3p per litre. There were also cost increases in vehicle prices, servicing and maintenance. The increase in aver- age earnings was 3.3% at the end of 2018, lifting the pro- posed increase to 3.09%. In order to facilitate the latest fare pro- posals, E&I is also proposing the initial standing charge to be increased and, in return, the minimum distance travelled before the first addi-
tional 20p fare in- crement is charged, to be increase from 0.14 to 0.79 miles. The standing charge has not been in- creased in over ten years. The 3.09% figure was calculated in accordance with the taxi inflation index, the Halcrow Formu- la, which is based 40% on related inflation and 60% on average earnings. The consultation period ended on Wednesday 22 Jan- uary 2020.
FEBRUARY 2020
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