IN THE
NEWS...IN THE NEWS..
CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED TO STOP PRIVATE HIRE CAR DRIVERS PICKING UP FARES ILLEGALLY IN GLASGOW
A campaign to stop PHV drivers picking up fares illegally in a bid to protect public health and safety has been launched. GlasgowLive reports that Glasgow Cab Section of Unite the Union claims that Police Scotland will provide two officers dedicated to tack- ling serious crime committed by dri- vers, provided the cab section pay for it. A gofundme page has now been set up by Calum Anderson, chairman of the Glasgow Cab Sec- tion, to raise £2,712 which would fund two officers for a
minimum of six hours per night for four nights. Glasgow Cab Sec- tion has been lobby- ing Police Scotland to take action to stop pirating to pre- vent further in- stances of fraud and sexual assault. The Glasgow Cab Section believes more action should be taken by Glasgow City Council and that the city and the rest of Scotland should follow in the footsteps of the rest of the UK, particular- ly Birmingham where those who are caught pirating are fined and issued six
penalty points. Mr Anderson said: “We have reached an epidemic which has resulted in the increase of serious crime including sexu- al assault. There is no deterrent to stop these people unlike the rest of the UK. If we can prevent one more life from being ruined by these peo- ple, it is well worth it.” Chairman of the licensing committee Cllr Alex Wilson says he will welcome any move that protects public health and safety. Cllr Wilson said: “I am happy with the Glasgow Cab Sec-
tion doing this but it should be funded by Police Scotland. I am in favour of anything that protects public health and safety.” Chief Insp Audrey Hand, area comman- der for Glasgow City Centre, said: “We have
undertaken
joint initiatives, most recently on Friday, 6 December as part of our festive cam- paign, and are committed to work- ing with the council and wider partners to address concerns in the licensed trade in a proportionate manner. “Our resources are deployed based on
demand at any given time and where they are best served to keep people safe. “There has been no agreement made with the trade to pay for police officers to carry out operations jointly with taxi enforcement.” NPHTA comment: This type of enforce- ment should not have to be funded directly by the trade in this temporary manner; there should be ded- icated on-street en- forcement officers, as in Liverpool, whose full-time job it would be to prevent such illegal plying in Glasgow – particular-
ly on weekend nights. This is even more sig- nificant given that Glasgow is the first Scottish city to implement a cap on private hire vehicle licences in their dis- trict; that regulative restriction should mean that if a PHC driver is convicted of illegally plying for hire he should lose his licence immedi- ately and won’t be able to get it back due to the cap on numbers. This severi- ty of punitive measures, along with educating the travel- ling public, is the only way to solve the problem.
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FEBRUARY 2020
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