BECOME ‘SAFE AND SUITABLE’? IMPACT FAR AND WIDE
There are other areas where the trade is not amused either. You will see from this month’s front page that licence holders from every side of the trade banded togeth- er for a mass demonstration outside Leeds Civic Hall last month, to protest against the over-zealous policy being brought in by Leeds City Council on the 2nd February.
Amongst a long list of complaints against the policy generally, the specific restriction of the ban from applying for a badge for three years following the accrual of more than six DVLA points for minor driving offences highlights the plight of every licence holder in the district. This is particu- larly desperate because vehicle proprietors licensed by Leeds are having to consider spending large sums on eco-friendly taxis and PHVs to comply with the fast-approach- ing Clean Air Zone charging regime.
Their dilemma is this: How can you consider that kind of expenditure on a “tool of the trade”, when it is possible that your badge can be taken from you and blocked for years afterwards? How are you supposed to earn a living? How can you make the repay- ments on such a vehicle?
In their own words: “The policy proposals are very draconian indeed, and go way beyond what the law of the land permits. The policymakers do not understand the stresses and strains and pressures the drivers have to work under. A recent exam- ple is Jason Scherer from Armley, [who] has been stabbed in the neck whilst trying to earn a living.
“Can you imagine trying to control your speed or trying to behave in a professional manner with passengers who are being threatening, abusive or with the fear that your passenger may stab you in the neck?
“The Road Traffic Act allows drivers to use their occupation to plead for an extension should they reach 12 points; this policy overrules the Road Traffic Act.
“Taxi and private hire drivers have had to buy, or will be buying, vehicles costing anywhere from £15k up to £70k on finance to meet the upcoming CAZ requirements; just two motoring convictions will mean immediate suspension for three years. Drivers will lose their only source of income immediately, meaning that they will not be able to pay their instalments and any other financial commitments. This will make many drivers and their families homeless or destitute.”
FEBRUARY 2020
News of the Leeds demo on 15 January was posted on the PHTM website; as you can imagine, it provoked quite a volume of mixed comment. Here are some of the com- ments posted under the article:-
Paul Spooner: “When I lived in Brentwood they had a rule to suspend your licence if you got nine points in two years. I know of one driver who lost his licence for this and he took the council to court and won. The council had to pay him loss of earnings.”
Chris Brown: “They can’t impose it, if they did half of the taxis would be off the road so more people in town [who] can’t get taxis, ie. fighting trebles in the town centre. These councils are really thick, they just don’t think it through.”
Ian Haskell: “Driving instructors can’t exceed 6 points in 2 years or they get their badge taken off them and can’t reapply until they are down to a minimum of 3 points on their licence. If they reapply they have to go through the three very vigorous tests to qualify again. I was an instructor for 15 years, the trade is very professional. Taxi drivers should be thankful they don’t need to go through any driving tests to get their badge. If you get 6 points in two years you deserve to be removed so stop whinging.”
Nadeem Hussain: “Oppression of the work- ing classes.”
Kenneth Wood: “You don’t lose your licence until you have 12 points off the DVLA. So why should a council decide to take your badge away on six points?”
John Dixon: “Northumberland Council pro- posed the same some time ago but it never happened after protests.”
Matt Riggs: “Sounds fair enough to me. How about driving more carefully?”
Jeff Young: “Ridiculous! So you make two mistakes and you’re out of a job.”
Steven Toy: “This ultimately affects all of us because what happens [in Leeds] in terms of licensing policy will set a precedent for other councils to follow.
The original guidance for local authorities regarding points was formulated by the Institute of Licensing (notably James Button and Philip Kolvin QC whose roles are surely to practise law) in 2018. The recommended threshold was for 7 points to trigger a three- year ban but even this is disproportionate when you consider that a PSV driver who can carry up to 73 passengers on a double- decker bus will only face a 12-month ban on accumulating 12 points.
“… Whilst we in the trade should always sup- port measures to raise standards, this should not come at the expense of propor- tionality, for it serves only to undermine public confidence in licensed taxi and pri- vate hire drivers by sending out the message that we are less worthy than PSV drivers and therefore deserve a harsher regime of points.
“The best way to engender public confi- dence is to raise the bar for entry to our trade, not to lower the bar for forced exit from it. Who in their right minds would commit to financing a new, more costly environmentally-friendly vehicle over a peri- od of, say, 4 or 5 years with such a risk of losing their livelihood in that time?”
Haroon Iftikhar: “Taxi drivers and private hire drivers in the whole country should come out on strike. Already councils are sh*****g on us and this will affect us all even- tually.”
Continued on next page 63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112
